Director of Argentine Forensic team in Guyana to conduct assessment

Dec 13, 2020 News

Gruesome murder of Berbice teens…

In Guyana: Director of the Argentine Forensic Team, Luis Fondebrider

Kaieteur News – Currently in Guyana to assess whether or not his team of experts can help the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in solving the gruesome murder of three Berbice teens, is Dr. Luis Fondebrider.
Fondebrider is the Director of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF).
The three teens were brutally slain in early September, sparking protests, robberies, and the blocking of the roads in West Berbice. Several vehicles were burned during the protests as access to and from Berbice was cut off for days.
Police and army ranks had to be shuttled to the area to bring back some level of normalcy.
The mutilated bodies of Joel,16 and Isaiah Henry, 19, were first to be discovered, next to a coconut farm at Cotton Tree Backdam, West Coast Berbice (WCB).A rice farmer was arrested as one of the suspects for their murder.

Murdered: Haresh Singh

Murdered: Joel and Isaiah Henry

A few days later amidst the violent protest, his grandson, Haresh Singh, 17 was also killed, in apparent retaliation.
It’s quickly approaching three months since their gruesome deaths and family members have been agitating in a case that has dragged in political parties.
The lawyer for the Henry teens, Nigel Hughes, had announced that moves were underway to bring in the experienced Argentine Forensic Team to assist in cracking the case.
Before that, regional investigators had been in Guyana with no charges brought in the death of the teens so far.
The arrival of the Dr. Fondebrider was made possible by the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), which has been making statements about the matter. Dr. Fondebrider began a four-day visit yesterday to conduct an assessment.
According to a press release sent out by GHRA, the purpose of his visit is to assess whether the EAAF may be able to support the efforts of GPF in their investigations of the teens’ deaths.
During the visit, which will end on Wednesday, December 16th, Fondebrider will be meeting with the teens’ family members. He will also visit the crime scene and meet with police investigators.
According to GHRA, Fondebriber will brief the appropriate Government and diplomatic representatives as well.
GHRA added that if the conclusion of his assessment is positive, then the modalities of how the team of Argentinean sleuths will be accommodated will be addressed.
GPF had previously received assistance from the five-member Regional Security System (RSS) team.
DNA samples which were taken from the crime scene and from the suspects who were initially arrested were also sent overseas for testing.
Those results came back and it was reported that the samples recovered from the crime scene did not match any of the suspects.
After weeks of silence and another protest, police moved to offer a $3M cash reward for information leading to the killers.
Hughes, the lawyer representing the family members of the dead teens, had criticized the police over the failure to solve the case. He then made a call for the EAAF to be brought to help out the police.
Since then, a number of other persons were arrested but released.
Opposition Members of Parliament then filed a motion for the police force to expedite its probe into the murders of the teens.