The Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday received the results of DNA samples which were sent to St. Lucia for analysis more than a month ago in relation to the brutal murders of teenaged cousins Isiah and Joel Henry.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that the results were yesterday submitted to the police for official review.
The findings are unknown. However, it is anticipated that they will provide the police with leads in solving the crime.
Late last month, Presi-dent Irfaan Ali had announced that forensic evidence obtained by the police in the murders of the teenagers was sent to St. Lucia for testing.
The police had previously said that DNA samples collected from the suspects who were arrested for questioning in relation to the murders were sent for a comparative analysis to be conducted against the forensic evidence collected from the secondary crime scene.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secon-dary School, and Joel, 18, who worked at the Blair-mont Estate, went missing on Saturday, September 5, after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts.
After they did not return home, relatives lodged a missing-persons report with the police and subsequently launched a search. It was while searching that the bodies of the teens were discovered. The discovery of the bodies sparked days of unrest in West Berbice.
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.
Ali then took a decision to request assistance from the Caribbean Commu-nity’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Regional Security System (RSS) after dozens of ranks combed the backlands of No. 2 and No. 3 villages, WCB and found nothing of “evidential” value for the investigation into the murders.
The police had said that a “methodical” search was carried out in the backlands of No. 2 and No. 3 villages, between 7am and 2pm on Thursday, September 17th, by a total of 75 ranks, drawn from Region Five, the Criminal Investigation Department’s Major Crimes Unit and the Guy-ana Defence Force (GDF) led by Commander of Region Five Edmond Cooper and a Lieutenant Colonel. They were also accompanied by government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh.
That update came days after the police announced that investigations revealed that the Henrys were not killed at the location where their bodies were found.
As a result of this, forensic evidence which was found at the secondary crime scene was collected, preserved and submitted for DNA analysis.
Earlier this week, Ali told the media that the RSS team that visited to aid in the investigation recommended additional work be done.
