Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall yesterday at the High Court in Berbice, found Hillary Edwards, of Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice, guilty of the murder of Leonard Archibald.
A probation report was ordered and Edwards will return to court on February 11 for sentencing.
Edwards, 32, of Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice, was charged in September, 2017, for the murder of 13-year-old Archibald.
On September 17, Archibald of Lot 11 Brothers Village, East Bank Berbice, disappeared after he left home to pick up two of his sisters from a birthday party in a nearby village. He was last seen riding a bicycle on the Sisters Village Public Road. After a police report was filed, investigators placed two men from Sisters Village in custody: the prime suspect, Edwards, and his friend, Christopher, at whose house Edwards would usually hang out, and which is located four houses away from the Sisters Police Station.
During a subsequent search, the missing teen’s bicycle was discovered in the Berbice River behind Christopher’s house. Later on, police investigators allegedly elicited a confession from one of the accused. Police were told that Edwards allegedly kidnapped the teen and raped him, after which he dumped his unconscious body into the Berbice River. After the alleged confession became public knowledge, relatives of the boy and residents of the East Bank Berbice area were determined to recover the child’s body. Archibald’s decomposed body was found on a mudflat located aback of Kortberaad Village, on the Berbice River, some three miles from Brothers Village, East Bank Berbice, where the teen lived.
An autopsy was performed on Archibald’s decomposed body, however, the results were inconclusive.
