A five-member team from the Regional Security System (RSS) yesterday arrived here to assist the Guyana Police Force (GPF) with the investigation into the murders of teenaged cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry as well as Haresh Singh, which occurred at West Coast Berbice (WCB) almost a month ago.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall yesterday informed Stabroek News that the team arrived in Guyana yesterday morning.
He said the purpose of the visit is for the team to provide support to local police in every aspect of the investigations, which would include revisiting the crime scenes. “They are to aid the police with the investigation in every respect. The forensic aspects of it, going back to the crime scene and so on,” he added.
The team comprises officials from countries within the Regional Investigative Management Systems (RIMS).
The Guyana Police Force (GPF), in a press release issued last evening, said upon its arrival the team met with members of the GPF, including Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum and ranks from the Major Crimes Unit, who have been spearheading the investigation.
Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Royston Andries-Junor said that the team was given the scope to “review and explore” all avenues necessary in an effort to solve the murders.
During the meeting, the police said the team was assured it will be provided with all the necessary resources to facilitate a “conducive” environment for its work.
The arrival of the team is in keeping with a promise made by President Irfaan Ali earlier this month.
About a week ago, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Guyana and the Caribbean Community’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) was drafted and subsequently processed.
In an address to the nation on the evening of September 9th, Ali had announced that he will be mobilising help from the RSS and the UK government to bolster the investigative capacity of the police force to probe the murders of the teenagers in the village of Cotton Tree as well as the “criminality which led to the disruption of lives along the Region Five corridor.”
“We will seek to use all available tools in not only solving these crimes but also in getting a comprehensive and holistic picture as to all the events surrounding what took place thereafter,” Ali had said.
Meanwhile, Nandlall has told Stabroek News “the President has committed to the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry comprising of both local and international personnel of high calibre to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the three young men in Berbice and the violent aftermath which flowed therefrom.”
“The terms of reference would include the role of politicians, if any, it will examine the response of the law enforcement agency it will examine the violence and the perpetrators of the violence which flowed as the aftermath and will also consider appropriate compensation for those who suffered in terms of personal injuries and proprietary interest,” he added.
The police had said that the bodies of the Henrys were found about 600 feet from each other in clumps of bushes near to a coconut farm on the WCB.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School and Joel, 18, who worked at the Blairmont Estate, went missing on Saturday, September 5th, after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts.
After they did not return home, relatives lodged missing persons’ reports with the police and
subsequently launched a search. It was while searching that the bodies of the teens were discovered.
Autopsies performed on the bodies of the teenagers showed that they both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple wounds.
Days after this, another teenager, Haresh Singh, was also murdered in what is believed to be a reprisal killing.
Investigations ongoing
The investigation into the murders of the three teenagers remain ongoing.
To date, while no arrest has been made in relation to the murder of Singh, a number of persons have been detained and questioned in connection with the murders of the Henrys.
Up to yesterday, several persons remained in police custody. The most recent arrests were made on Sunday.
Prior to this, a number of persons, including the owner of a coconut estate, were arrested in relation to the matter. However, they were subsequently placed on station bail.
Just over a week ago, five persons were detained by the police for questioning but they were later released after being held for three days without charge.
Blanhum had previously told this newspaper that among the five suspects were individuals who allegedly saw the Henrys on September 5th, one day before their bodies were discovered. He had said that the suspects were taken into custody after they initially denied that they saw the dead teenagers on the day in question.
Two Fridays ago, the police had announced that after combing the backlands of the No. 2 and No. 3 Villages, WCB, dozens of ranks found nothing of “evidential” value for the investigation into the murder of the Henrys.
Andries-Junor had said that a “methodical” seven-hour search was carried out in the backlands of the villages, WCB, by a total of 75 ranks which included members of the Criminal Investigation Department‘s (CID) Major Crimes Unit and Region Five. The team was headed by Police Commander of Region Five Edmond Cooper and a Lieutenant Colonel. They were also accompanied by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh.
“Ranks on the ground also received aerial support via a helicopter from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). However, nothing of evidential value was found,” the police said.
Prior to this, the police had said that investigations revealed that the Henrys were not killed at the location where their bodies were found. “…Preliminary findings showed that the bodies of the Henry boys were discovered at a secondary crime scene,” the police in a statement had said.
This means that the heinous murders were not committed where the bodies were found. “Person(s) moved the bodies after the murder and placed them at the locations where they were subsequently discovered,” the police added.
Forensic evidence was found at the secondary crime scene and has since been collected, preserved and submitted to the Guyana Forensic Laboratory for DNA analysis.
The police had also said that DNA samples were also collected from the suspects who were in custody and sent for a comparative analysis to be conducted against the forensic evidence collected from the secondary crime scene. The results are expected soon.
