Nearly six years after the brutal murders of West Coast Berbice cousins Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry shocked the nation and triggered widespread protests, a Berbice Assizes jury on Tuesday, 9th June 2026, unanimously found Anil Sancharra and Vinod Gopaul guilty on two counts of murder.
The verdicts were returned after more than two hours of deliberations by a 12-member jury after a month-long trial before Justice Simone Morris.
Following the verdicts, the Judge ordered psychiatric evaluations and probation reports for both convicted men and adjourned the matter to June 26th, for a sentencing hearing.
The trial, which was expected to have 45 witnesses, opened on May 6th, and concluded on June 9th, with evidence from 16 prosecution witnesses, testimony from both accused men, extensive cross-examination by defence attorneys Dr. Dexter Todd, along with an associate Dexter Smart, and Chandra Sohan, and detailed legal directions from the trial Judge before the matter was handed to the jury.
For many Guyanese, the verdict represented the conclusion of one chapter in a case, that has remained etched in the country’s memory since September 2020.
Isaiah Henry, aged 16 years , and Joel Henry, aged 19 years, disappeared on September 5, 2020, after heading into the Cotton Tree Backlands, West Coast Berbice. The following day, their mutilated bodies were discovered, sending shockwaves throughout Guyana, and attracting international attention.
The killings sparked days of protests and unrest across West Coast Berbice as residents demanded answers and justice for the two cousins. Those demands, culminated on June 9th when jurors unanimously convicted Sancharra and Gopaul of both murders.
State’s case
The State’s case, led by State Counsel Marisa Edwards, was built around the testimony of Akash Singh, who became the prosecution’s principal witness.
Singh, was initially considered a suspect during the investigation, but, later emerged as the State’s key witness and the only person who claimed to have been present when the killings occurred.
Throughout the proceedings, it became clear that the prosecution’s case would largely succeed or fail on whether jurors accepted Singh’s account.
According to Singh, he travelled into the Cotton Tree Backlands with Sancharra and Gopaul, where the men maintained a marijuana farm. He testified that the group had established a makeshift camp using branches, bushes, and cut manure bags, and spent time there tending crops.
Singh told the court, that on a later occasion they returned to the area and discovered that marijuana plants and nearby crops had been damaged or destroyed. According to his testimony, discussions were taking place about the destruction when Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry approached.
The witness said an exchange followed and one of the teenagers laughed.
What happened next formed the foundation of the State’s case.
Singh testified that Gopaul attacked one of the cousins with a cutlass while Sancharra attacked the other. He told jurors that both teenagers attempted to flee but were overtaken.
The witness described seeing repeated blows being inflicted and told the court there were “plenty chops.”
According to Singh, the attack was relentless. His evidence was that both cousins suffered multiple injuries before collapsing.
The witness further testified that after the killings, the bodies were tied onto horses and removed from the area. He said that Gopaul instructed him to mark an “X” on the foreheads of the victims before the bodies were transported away.
“I don’t know what the ‘X’ was for,” he told the court.
Singh also described what he said occurred after the killings. According to his evidence, he later disposed of cutlasses and bloody clothing by throwing them into a canal before changing his own clothes.
The witness said both accused threatened to kill him if he revealed what had happened. He said that fear caused him to remain silent for months.
Singh told jurors that he eventually informed his sister and two other persons about the incident, although they reportedly did not believe him.
After his arrest in January 2021, Singh provided information to police investigators and later accompanied officers into the backlands. According to his evidence, he directed investigators to locations connected to the killings.
The prosecution argued that Singh’s testimony provided jurors with a direct account of what happened in the Cotton Tree Backlands. However, prosecutors did not ask the jury to rely solely on Singh. Instead, the State contended that his evidence was supported by medical findings, police testimony, and other witnesses, who testified throughout the trial.
Medical evidence
Among those witnesses was Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, whose testimony provided the medical foundation of the prosecution’s case.
The pathologist described in graphic detail the injuries suffered by both teenagers. He testified that Isaiah Henry sustained multiple chop wounds to the head, neck, and face. Among the injuries was one so severe that it severed the spine.
The doctor also described extensive trauma to Isaiah’s upper body.
Joel Henry likewise suffered numerous chop wounds. According to the pathologist, the injuries affected the head, neck, arms, and hands. Several wounds to Joel’s hands and fingers were described as defensive injuries, indicating attempts to ward off the attack.
Dr. Singh concluded that both cousins died from haemorrhage and shock caused by multiple incised wounds inflicted by a sharp instrument.
The prosecution argued that those findings were entirely consistent with Akash Singh’s account of a violent cutlass attack involving repeated blows.
Investigation and police testimony
Jurors also heard evidence from relatives, community witnesses, and police investigators.
Lyril Fullerton testified about the cousins’ familiarity with the backlands and aspects of their daily activities. Gladstone Henry, Isaiah’s father, described joining search efforts after the teenagers failed to return home.
The court heard how relatives and residents searched for the missing cousins before their bodies were discovered.
Winston Henry and Leon King also testified concerning events surrounding the discovery and identification of the bodies. One aspect of Winston Henry’s testimony became particularly significant during the trial. He spoke about an encounter involving Akash Singh after newspaper photographs of the slain cousins had been published.
The prosecution later relied on that evidence as part of its argument that Singh’s account was supported by independent circumstances.
Several detective witnesses then outlined the investigation that ultimately led to the charges against Sancharra and Gopaul.
Woman Sergeant Nelci White described the crime scene and the condition of the bodies when they were discovered in the backlands. Crime-scene photographs were shown during the proceedings.
Sergeant Desmond Jhonny testified that investigators recovered blood-stained leaves, strands of hair, and a cigarette butt from the area. However, under cross-examination, he acknowledged that investigators had not taken measurements to establish the exact positions of the bodies and had not marked their precise locations.
Those admissions later formed part of the defence’s attack on the investigation.
Rural Constable Devindra Pardat testified that he arrested Vinod Gopaul and Akash Singh at Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice on September 6, 2020. He told the court those arrests were not connected to the murders of Isaiah Henry and Joel Henry.
Detective Inspector Shane James testified that he arrested Sancharra on the Essequibo Coast, in January 2021 and denied suggestions that investigators assaulted or mistreated the accused.
Detective Sergeant Alexie Anys and Sergeant Sheldon Harvey gave evidence regarding interviews and confrontations conducted during the investigation. According to their testimony, Akash Singh identified both accused during those confrontations and repeated allegations concerning their involvement in the killings.
Jurors also heard evidence relating to recorded interviews and video footage, although technical difficulties reportedly prevented complete recordings from being played in court.
One of the most significant police witnesses was Detective Superintendent Rodwell Sarrabo, who oversaw major aspects of the investigation.
Sarrabo testified that Akash Singh became a suspect after police received information they considered credible. He described how investigators followed up on leads, interviewed witnesses, and conducted inquiries in the Cotton Tree Backlands.
According to his evidence, Akash Singh later accompanied investigators into the backlands and directed them to areas he said were connected to the murders.
The defence, however, subjected Sarrabo to extensive cross-examination. Questions were raised about investigative decisions, missing records, and the absence of physical evidence linking the accused to the crime scene.
Particular attention was paid to Akash Singh’s claim that cutlasses and clothing had been discarded in a canal. Jurors heard that despite searches, those items were never recovered.
Defence case
After the prosecution closed its case, both accused elected to testify.
Sancharra denied any involvement in the murders. He told jurors that between September 1 and September 6, 2020, he was living at Tain Village with a ‘Spanish’ woman and working as a labourer in the Black Bush Polder backlands.
He denied being with Akash Singh, denied travelling to a marijuana farm, and denied knowledge of Cotton Tree Backdam at the time.
“I have no idea what I am in jail for,” Sancharra told the court.
Gopaul likewise denied participating in the killings. He rejected Akash Singh’s allegations, denied instructing anyone to dispose of weapons, and maintained that he had been wrongfully implicated.
He also alleged that he had been assaulted while in police custody and was pressured during the investigation.
Throughout the trial, defence attorneys Todd and Sohan mounted a sustained attack on Akash Singh’s credibility.
The defence highlighted inconsistencies in his statements and questioned why aspects of his account changed over time. They also challenged the quality of the police investigation, pointing to missing records, unrecovered weapons, and shortcomings acknowledged by investigators during cross-examination.
Judge’s directions and verdict
At the close of evidence, Justice Morris spent considerable time reviewing the testimony and explaining the law to jurors.
The judge reminded them that they were the sole judges of the facts and that their verdicts must be based solely on the evidence presented in court.
A substantial portion of the summing up focused on Akash Singh’s evidence. Justice Morris reviewed inconsistencies identified during cross-examination and instructed jurors to determine whether those issues affected the reliability of his testimony.
The judge also highlighted omissions between Singh’s police statements and his testimony before the court and instructed jurors to determine whether those omissions undermined his credibility.
The trial Judge further directed the jury on the law relating to accomplice evidence, cautioning them to approach such testimony carefully while noting that participants in criminal activity are often in a position to provide direct evidence of events.
Justice Morris also reviewed evidence the prosecution said supported Singh’s account, including Winston Henry’s testimony and investigative visits to the backlands.
The Judge revisited the medical evidence, including testimony that Isaiah Henry’s spine had been severed and that both cousins sustained extensive chop wounds.
A key issue addressed by the judge was intention. Jurors were instructed that if they accepted evidence that the accused chopped the victims, they had to determine whether there was an intention to kill or cause serious bodily harm.
Justice Morris also directed the jury on common purpose, explaining that where individuals act together in pursuit of a common objective, each may be held responsible for the actions of the other.
After receiving those directions, the jury retired to deliberate.
More than two hours later, jurors returned unanimous guilty verdicts against the accused men on each of the two murder charges.
The verdicts marked the end of a trial that began on May 6th, and concluded on June 9th , 2026.
Following the convictions, Justice Morris ordered psychiatric evaluations and probation reports on the background of both men and adjourned the matter to June 26 for sentencing.
At that hearing, the court is expected to hear submissions from the prosecution and defence.
For the families of Isaiah and Joel Henry, the conviction represented the culmination of a nearly six-year wait for a jury’s determination on who was responsible for the deaths of the two cousins whose murders shook Guyana in September 2020.
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