Police defend reward offer in West Berbice murders

-says it is a `further effort’ in probe

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday said that its $3M reward offer for information that may lead to the murderers of teenaged cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry and Haresh Singh is not an admission of the force’s failure in solving the crimes but rather a “further effort”.

The police made the statement in response to attorney Nigel Hughes, who during a virtual press conference on Tuesday had said that the police offer is an admission of failure in solving the crime.

Hughes is representing the families of the Henry boys. The families have since said that the money would be better spent paying for the services of an Argentine forensic team that has offered to aid the probe.

The force yesterday described the offer of the reward as a “further effort” in the investigation which aims at solving the crimes.

“A monetary reward made by a law enforcement agency for information from the public leading to the solving of a crime is an internationally recognized and accepted method to assist criminal investigators and is one that has been utilized from time immemorial,” the police said.

The police added that the views expressed by Hughes, on behalf of the family are likely to weaken public confidence in the force and the investigation.

“While the G. P. F is unsure of the agenda of Mr. Hughes, and does not wish to speculate, what is certain is that his unfortunate utterances are neither in the best interest of the current investigations, nor the ( consoling) of the bereaved family on whose behalf he is acting since such statements have the propensity to undermine the public’s confidence in the G.P.F and the investigations,” the statement explained.

On Tuesday, the father of Isaiah and the brother and mother of Joel, in the company of Hughes had voiced their concern that the police appeared no closer to finding the culprit months after the murders of the teens.

“The fact that they are offering a reward is an admission of failure and an admission that they are unable to solve the crime with their present means and therefore are hoping that with a financial incentive somebody will come forward… clearly after seven to eight weeks of investigation the GPF were in no better position than at the commencement of the investigation and were now resorting to offering money for information,” Hughes said.

He said that experience has shown that when rewards are offered a lot of people who are interested in securing the reward come forward with information that is less than reliable and perhaps in some cases fabricated.

“The GPF have effectively admitted that they have no tangible, useful information. They are not in the position to even limit the scope of potential suspects,” Hughes reiterated.

Isaiah, 16, and Joel, 18, went missing on Saturday, September 5th, after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts.

Their mutilated bodies were found the next day and triggered protests along the West Berbice corridor. Days after this, another teenager, Singh, was also murdered in what is believed to be a reprisal killing.

In a brief statement last evening in reply to the police, Hughes said “I am impressed with the alacrity with which the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has found it possible to respond to statements made during the press conference held by the Henry family yesterday (Tuesday)”.

“Perhaps if the same diligence, commitment and speed had been applied to the investigation of the murders of the young Henry boys we might all have been in a different place today,” he added.

The attorney has since renewed calls for regular public engagements by the police on the matter until it is solved. “My personal hope is that the necessity for press conferences and press releases can be obviated by a successful conclusion of the investigation leading to the prosecution and conviction of those responsible,” Hughes said.

“No recommendation”

About a month ago, the GPF, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and the Hughes, Fields & Stoby law firm had announced that a team from the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology ( Equipo Argentino de Antropologia ForensicaEAAF) had offered to assist with the investigation.

The cost to have the team here is approximately $7M.

Hughes had argued that a better investment would be to have the team here.

It remains unclear who has the final say in accepting or denying the team’s offer.

Contacted yesterday, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn told Stabroek News that the police are continuing their investigation into the matter.

As such, Benn said he has no recommendation. “The police are doing their work on the matter. I have no recommendation for any other return…when that occurs then we will proceed along whatever other line,” he said.

A joint statement on October 1st said the EAAF, which has worked on high profile cases in many parts of the world, offered to send a team to Guyana, including a forensic pathologist, a forensic anthropologist, a forensic radiologist and a criminalist.

The team has offered analysis of the documents related to the case, exhumation and autopsy of the bodies and a final report at the cost of $4 million. This plus $ 3 million for administrative costs, including return flights, eight-day hotel accommodation and meals as well as equipment transport, sees the total expenditure pegged at $7 million.

Hughes had noted that he has on behalf of the family written to Benn, requesting the presence of the EAAF, while GHRA has written twice and received no response.

One family member revealed that during a meeting with President Irfaan Ali he declined to give a positive response on the request. “He said he reached out to CARICOM because they reached out to him,” Joel’s brother explained.

Ali had promised that no stone would be left unturned in finding those responsible for the crimes.

Stabroek News has previously reported that the CARICOM Regional Security System team that came to aid the investigation into the murders found that the GPF is “well poised and competent” to complete the investigations.

While the report from the team has not been made public this newspaper was reliably informed that it also recognised that the GPF did “extensive” work during the investigation of the three murders.