Duo now charged jointly for murder of Henry cousins

Based on advice from the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Police on Thursday filed a joint charge against Vinod Gopaul and Anil Sancharia for the September 2020 murder of Berbice teens Joel and Isaiah Henry.
The charge was read to Sancharra at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court; he was not required to plead to the indictable charge. Gopaul, on the other hand, was not present at the Zoom hearing. The charge is expected to be read to him on August 10, when the matter comes up at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court. Both accused have been remanded to prison.

Gopaul, called “Magga”, 34, and Sancharra, called “Dan Pole, 33, were initially charged with the crime on January 16, and remanded to prison pending the hearing and determination of a preliminary inquiry (PI).
One month ago, Magistrate Peter Hugh, at the end of the PI, found that there was not sufficient evidence to support the murder charge brought against the men for the murder of Isaiah Henry. Accordingly, the Magistrate dismissed the charge against them.

Throughout the PI, Attorney-at-law Dexter Todd had represented the two defendants pro bono. However, at that time they had remained on remand, pending a PI into the murder of Joel. But following the discharge, DPP Shalimar Ali Hack, SC, pursuant to Section 72 (1) of the Criminal Law (Procedure) Act, wrote to Magistrate Hugh, requesting that the depositions in the case be dispatched to her chambers.

The DPP, in the missive, noted that there was sufficient evidence at the time the charge was laid against the two, and that she would have to ascertain why they were discharged and take “appropriate action”.
Guyana Times was able to confirm that, upon perusal of the depositions, the DPP discontinued the previous charge against them for the murder of Joel Henry. The Police were therefore instructed to institute a joint charge against Goopaul and Sancharra for the murder of the cousins.
Apart from Goopaul and Sancharra, Akash Singh, called “Money”, 19, is also charged with the cousins’ murder.
On September 6, 2020, the badly mutilated bodies of Isaiah, 16, and 17-year-old Joel were found in the backlands of Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice (WCB) – almost two days after they had left their Number Three Village, WCB home to pick coconuts. An “X” was marked on one of the teen’s foreheads.
Then, on September 9, 17-year-old Haresh Singh was found murdered at the Number Three Village backlands. It is suspected that his death was in retaliation for the murders of Isaiah and Joel, since he is related to one of the persons initially held by the Police for the cousins’ murder.
The murder of the Henry cousins and Singh had sparked protests across several villages along the West Coast Berbice corridor, with many persons being robbed and vehicles set alight by rogue elements.
Meanwhile Joel Henry’s brother, Gladston Henry, is among four men charged with Singh’s murder. Only last month, about 10 of Gladston Henry’s family members, including his mother, were arrested by the Police for attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to Singh’s murder.
The family members had claimed that Gladston was at home with them at the time Singh was killed, and as such he was wrongfully charged. The “alibi witnesses” were later arrested and held at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters.
They were later released on $100,000 bail pending investigations.
The Guyana Police Force has reiterated that the alibis provided by the alleged witnesses were investigated and found to be unverified.