The Berbice High Court jury on Tuesday found Anil Sancharra and Vinod Gopaul guilty of the murders of teenage cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry, nearly six years after the crime shocked Guyana and sparked widespread calls for justice.
The verdict was returned before Justice Simone Morris after jurors spent several hours deliberating on the evidence presented during the trial.
Sancharra, also known as “Dan Pole” or “Rasta,” and Gopaul, called “Maga,” had both denied any involvement in the September 2020 killings of 16-year-old Isaiah Henry and 17-year-old Joel Henry.
Central to the prosecution’s case was the testimony of Akash Singh, who told the court that he witnessed the murders while in the backlands. Singh testified that he had accompanied the accused men to a marijuana camp and was present when the Henry cousins arrived at the location.
According to Singh, an encounter between the parties escalated, culminating in the fatal attack on the two teenagers. Prosecutors argued that his evidence provided a firsthand account of the events and directly implicated the accused men in the murders.
Throughout the trial, both Sancharra and Gopaul challenged Singh’s version of events. They denied being at the alleged crime scene, dismissed his testimony as untrue, and maintained that they had been wrongly accused.
The men also rejected claims that they had instructed others to dispose of weapons allegedly linked to the crime.
During his defence, Gopaul further alleged that he was assaulted by police investigators and pressured into signing documents while in custody. However, he admitted under oath that he had signed a caution statement.
Sancharra and Gopaul are expected to reappear before the Berbice High Court on June 26, 2026, when Justice Morris is scheduled to hand down their sentences.
The bodies of Isaiah and Joel Henry were discovered in the backlands of Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice, in September 2020.
The gruesome killings triggered national outrage and led to protests as family members and supporters demanded answers and accountability.
