One accused in Berbice rape-murder of 13-year-old freed

Jul 01, 2018 News

One of the men who was arrested and charged following the brutal abduction, rape and murder of a 13- year-old boy back in 2017 on East Bank Berbice has been freed.
Obediah Nicholas Christopher who was charged along with Hillary Edwards for the crime committed on Leonard Archibald, 13, of Sister Village had his matter discharged in the Magistrate’s Court following submissions by his lawyer Murseline Bacchus.
Christopher, 20, called “Bee Boy”, a fisherman of Sisters Village and Edwards were arrested and charged for the abduction, rape and murder of Archibald, whose decomposed body was found on the Kortberaadt foreshore. The crime was committed between September 17 and September 24, 2017.
The matter was tried before Magistrate Alex Moore in the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court.
Attorney at law Bacchus during the trial quoted a number of authorities to press for his client’s release. In his submission he noted that there was no admissible evidence against his client that he did anything to the deceased or injured him.
He noted that they were charged separately and even if they were charged together the evidence could not have been used against one another.
Bacchus also noted that the Post Mortem report gave the cause of death as unascertainable.
Christopher after his arrest and first court hearing created an uproar in the court and the courtyard as he protested his innocence. He had repeatedly screamed that he was innocent, and that he was being framed by his alleged accomplice.
“Everybody, is this boy (Edwards) get me in hay innocently and I gon prove it. I ain’t do nobody nothing.” His parents had urged him to pray.
“There is a God and all who tried to involve him innocently, my God will intervene.”
Archibald, had disappeared while accompanying his two sisters from a birthday party.
Police had arrested the two men a day after the lad reportedly disappearance. Under intense questioning, Edwards reportedly confessed to luring the teen, raping him until he was unconscious, and dumping his body in the Berbice River.
Archibald’s bicycle was found five days later aback of Christopher’s house along the Sisters Village foreshore. The following day, Leonard Archibald’s partly decomposed body was discovered on the Kortberaadt shore, some two miles from his home.
The matter against Edwards is continuing

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News