Director of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF) Dr. Luis Fondebrider, who is currently here to assess whether his team can assist the police with the murders of West Coast Berbice (WCB) cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry as well as Haresh Singh has visited the crime scenes and met with the families of the teenagers.
Dr. Fondebrider arrived in Guyana on Saturday. Since then, he has conducted a number of interactions and visits, which will determine whether the EAAF is capable of assisting local police with the probes.
On Sunday, Dr Fondebrider met and interacted with the families of the three teenagers. He was accompanied by attorney Nigel Hughes, who through his law firm, Hughes, Fields & Stoby, is representing, pro bono, the interests of the families of the Henrys.
On the same day, he also visited the scenes where the bodies of the Henrys as well as Singh were found.
Additionally, Dr Fondebrider met with Argentina’s Ambassador to Guyana Dr. Felipe Gardella and visited the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) mortuary yesterday.
As his visit continues, Dr. Fondebrider is scheduled to meet with Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn today at 10am. Dr. Gardella will be
accompanying him to this meeting.
In the evening, he will be conducting a public presentation on the work of the EAAF. The presentation will be held at the Catholic Cathedral located on the corner of Brickdam and Camp Street from 5.30 pm to 7 pm.
Before his departure tomorrow, Dr. Fondebrider is also expected to meet with members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Announcing on Saturday the visit of Dr Fondebrider. the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) said it facilitated it in keeping with the wishes of the families of the teenagers.
In a press statement, GHRA said that upon the conclusion of his visit, a determination will be made as to whether the EAAF team is capable of providing any support to police in the investigations.
“As a result of the visit, the EAAF will determine whether and to what degree they may be able to support the Guyana Police Force in its investigations. If that conclusion is positive the modalities of how it may be implemented will be addressed,” the statement said.
Dr. Fondebrider’s visit costs approximately US$3,000 which is equivalent to over $600,000. This covers airfare, the costs of visa and medical tests and accommodation for the period that he will be here.
The fees were paid using parts of the pledges raised during a fund-raising drive which was launched by the GHRA in November in order to cover the cost for the EAAF team to visit here.
In early October, the GPF, the GHRA and the law firm Hughes, Fields & Stoby had announced that the EAAF team had offered to aid local authorities with the investigations.
The agencies, in a joint statement, had said that the team which has worked on high profile cases in many parts of the world, offered to send a team to Guyana, including a forensic pathologist, a forensic anthropologist, a forensic radiologist and a criminalist.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School, and Joel, 18, who worked at the Blairmont 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, Singh, was also murdered in what is believed to be a reprisal killing.
In September, the Caribbean Community’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Regional Security System (RSS) visited to assist local police with the investigations.
President Irfaan Ali had taken a decision to have the team here 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.
Following their departure, a report was prepared. While the findings were not made public, sources had told this newspaper that the team found that the GPF is “well poised and competent” to complete the investigations.
Ali had also told the media that the RSS team has recommended additional work be done.
Subsequently, Benn had practically ruled out having the Argentinean forensic team here – even though the GPF was prepared to receive it – as he said the government does not intend to go beyond its “normal lines” of engagement in trying to solve the murders.
Benn had told reporters that in cases of this nature, it’s a norm for authorities to engage overseas agencies from United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
As such, he said this will be maintained. “The normal recourse and reliable recourses we have, the normal overseas agencies we deal with in respect of further and … forensic analyses are in the United States, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). Also, the UK policing authorities and the Canadian,” Benn had said.