The two Berbice men who were convicted last month of the murder of 16-year-old Isiah Henry and 18-year-old Joel Henry in 2020, were today sentenced to life in prison by Justice Simone Morris.
The convicted killers – Vinod Gopaul and Anil Sancharra – would only be eligible for parole after serving 35 years in prison.
In early June, a 12-member jury found the men guilty of killing the two cousins back in 2020.
Inside the Courtroom today, Gopaul and Sancharra maintained their innocence just before the sentence was handed down.
Sancharra told the Court that he had never seen the cousins, as he begged the Court for mercy. But he was reminded by the Judge that a jury had found him guilty.
Gopaul and Sancharra were committed to stand trial in the High Court for the double murder in 2022 after the Magistrates’ Court found that there was sufficient evidence against them.
The High Court trial began in early May and continued for five weeks with more than 20 witnesses being called.
It was during the trial that the jury heard that the two cousins were attacked and murdered on September 6, 2020 after stumbling across a marijuana farm.
The key witness was Akash Singh, who was a friend of the two murder convicts. He testified that he was present during the brutal attack and murder of the two teens, also admitting that he was forced to play a part in the murders. He is currently before the Court on the same charge.
The two cousins were discovered dead and mutilated in the Cotton Tree Backdam in the West Coast Berbice one day after they were reported missing.
It is believed that they ventured into the backdam to pick coconuts when they were accosted by the men about the damage done to a marijuana farm in the area.
A post-mortem examination found that the two boys sustained multiple chop wounds and injuries including wounds to their spine and skull.
Their murder had resulted in a violent protests, as residents demanded justice. The mothers of the two murdered boys, both passed away before justice was served.
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