Guyana: Sanchara and Gopaul found guilty in Henry boys’ murder after six years

Guyana: The Berbice High Courts’ 12-member Jury delivered the verdict on Tuesday where Anil Sanchara, 39, and Vinod Gopaul, 35, were found guilty of the vicious murders of cousins Isaiah Henry, 16, and Joel Henry, 19, who were killed in September 2020.

The brutal murder case shocked the nation and sparked concerns across West Coast Berbice, Guyana six years ago.

The verdict was returned before Justice Simone Morris after two hours of deliberating on the evidence presented during the trial.

The formal trial officially commenced on May 6, 2026 that lasted over a month involving the testimonies of approximately 20 witnesses by the prosecution led by State Counsel Marisa Edwards, including an eye witness and self-confessed accomplice, Akash Singh that led to the arrest of two men in January, 2021.

Sanchara, also known as “Dan Pole” or “Rasta,” and Gopaul, called “Maga,” had both ultimately denied any involvement and strongly upheld their innocence under the defence led by attorney Dexter Todd in the September 2020 killings of the Henry boys throughout the trial.

The testimony of Akash Singh on May 13 testified that he had accompanied the accused men to a marijuana camp and was present when the victims arrived at the location.

He further outlined the details of the incident to the court of how he and the two now convicted men armed themselves with cutlasses and chopped the boys in the backdam.

Singh told the court that they had planted a marijuana farm in the backdam at Cotton Tree a month before the killing of Henry boys, and as they returned three weeks later it was completely destroyed by gramoxone that made Gopaul angry and he swore that “somebody got to pay for it.”

Singh stated that the accused alleged that the Henry boys had destroyed the marijuana farm as they showed up in the Backdam.

Singh further shared all the gruesome details of the murder of the Henry boys and how Gopaul chopped the neck of one of the boys and Sanchara joined the act, as the two continued chopping the cousins.

He also mentioned that his brother, Sanchara forced him to join them, and he was threatened that he would face the same fate as the boys. He was tasked to carve ‘X’ on the forehead of one of the boys.

Both the accused claimed that they were wrongly accused and that Singh's testimony was fabricated.

As they were led away on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, the men continuously declared themselves innocent. Friends and family of the Henry boys sobbed in relief at the long-awaited verdict and mourned their death.

Sentencing has been scheduled for later this month on June 26, 2026, as the convicts are scheduled to reappear before the Berbice High Court, where Justice Morris-Ramlall will officially hand down their sentences.