Nearly six years after the brutal deaths of teenage cousins, 16-year-old Isaiah Henry and 17-year-old Joel Henry, shocked Guyana and left a nation grieving, the trial of the two men accused of their murders is drawing to a close.
On Thursday, Anil Sancharra, known as “Dan Pole” or “Rasta”, and Vinod Gopaul, called “Maga”, maintained their innocence as the defence closed its case before the court.
Both men denied any involvement in the September 2020 killings, a tragedy that devastated the Henry family and sparked widespread outrage across the country.
The proceedings saw both accused taking the witness stand in their own defence before attorneys delivered their final submissions to the jury.
Sancharra, who remained under cross-examination by State Counsel Marisa Edwards, strongly rejected allegations linking him to the murders. He insisted that he was nowhere near the Cotton Tree backlands when the killings occurred and repeatedly challenged the credibility of key prosecution witness Akash Singh.
According to Sancharra, Singh’s testimony was fabricated. He denied being present during the attack on the two teenagers and also dismissed claims connecting him to an alleged marijuana camp in the backlands.
Throughout the questioning, Sancharra maintained that he could not explain why Singh had implicated him, insisting that the allegations were false.
Gopaul later testified that he was in police custody on an unrelated firearm matter when the murders occurred on 5 September 2020. He told the court that he remained detained until 11 September and therefore could not have been at the scene of the crime.
He also denied claims that he instructed Singh or anyone else to dispose of weapons, telling the court that he only learnt of the Henry cousins’ deaths months later when he was arrested again in January 2021.
With the defence case now closed, attorney Chandra Sohan urged jurors to closely examine what he described as weaknesses in the prosecution’s case.
He argued that important records from the preliminary inquiry were absent and questioned whether the State had adequately established details regarding Gopaul’s arrest and detention.
Prosecutors, however, maintained that the evidence presented, particularly the testimony of Akash Singh, supported the charges against the accused.
They also relied on the evidence of Police Superintendent Rodwell Surrabo, who addressed discrepancies in official records while affirming key aspects of the investigation.
Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall is expected to deliver her summation and legal directions to the jury on Tuesday, after which jurors will retire to consider their verdict.
