Duo sentenced to life for 2020 murder of Henry cousins

Jul 09, 2026 News

By Shermon Hawker

(Kaieteur News) – The trial into the gruesome killings of cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry wrapped up at the Berbice High Court on Wednesday, with the two men convicted of murder being handed life sentences each.

Anil Sanchara 39, called ‘Magga’, of D’Edward Village, West Coast Berbice, and Vinod Gopaul, 35, called ‘Dan Pole’ and ‘Rasta’of Yakasari, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, were convicted on two counts each for murdering the two boys, between September 5 and 6, 2020 at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice.

Duo sentenced to life for 2020 murder of Henry cousins

Anil Sanchara and Vinod Gopaul were given life imprisonment on Wednesday.

Cast of the case

Pleading not guilty, the duo relied on the legal services of Dexter Todd and Associates to champion their case, while state counsel Marisa Edwards armed the prosecution’s case with over 40 witnesses.

Justice Simone Morris adjudicated the matter, which was one of the most followed in recent time.

40+ witnesses and a trump card

On May 6, just over a month ago, the high-profile case commenced, and proceeded with tension and drama, as both prosecution and defense advanced compelling arguments. The jury noted attentively, while Sanchara and Gopaul appeared struggling to conceal the dread of facing lengthy prison time.

Gladstone Henry, the father of Isaiah, struck a note of pain as he recounted the tragic unfolding of September 6, 2020. He detailed having to journey to the backdam where he found his son and cousin’s badly butchered bodies.

Edwards eventually narrowed down her witnesses to just about 20, but this reduction did not harm the prosecution, as testimonies from other family members, police officers, and a decisive summary from pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh anchored its contention against the defense.

It was the testimony of key witness Akash Singh, however, that uprooted the duo’s prospect of success. Under cross examination, Singh withstood the intensity of Dexter Todd and the meticulousness of Chandra Sohan in his two-day testimony, in which he confirmed that he, along with the two used cutlasses to butcher the cousins. Sanchara, he said, had accused Isaiah and Joel of destroying their weed farm. Singh graphically described being forced to carve ‘x’ on the foreheads of the boys after the chopping, and added that the boys were dragged with a horse to a location where they were found later.

Final stand

Gopaul and Sanchara in separate addresses, told the court that Akash was part of a well-coordinated scheme with the police to have them take the fall for the murders.

On June 9, they were found guilty by a mixed jury on both counts of murder. Following the verdict, both men lost their composure and bitterly accused Singh of colluding with the police for a deal.

Addressing the court before Wednesday’s sentencing, Sanchara expressed sorrow over the deaths of the two teenagers but insisted he had never met them. Acknowledging the jury’s verdict, he pleaded with the court for mercy. Gopaul also maintained his innocence, telling the court he had spent years in prison for a crime he did not commit and likewise asked for leniency.

Handing down the sentence, Justice Morris ordered that both Sanchara and Gopaul must each serve 35 years before becoming eligible for parole on each count.

Ripple effects

Many exhaled in relief at Wednesday’s sentencing, believing that it was long overdue and that justice was finally granted. Others, however, expressed doubt that Gopaul and Sanchara were the actual killers.

Isaiah’s mother, Patricia Henry, and Joel’s mother Gail Johnson, had led the cries for justice for their murdered sons, but did not live to see their hopes realised. Patricia died in 2022, while Gail passed away nearly a year later. Relatives attributed the women’s deaths to the harrowing impact of the tragedy, particularly the manner in which their sons were killed.

In response to the murders, relatives, friends and several communities essentially hijacked the West Coast Berbice zone through violent protests. The matter rapidly became a national focus, and the gravity also attracted attention from the international community.

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Berbice High Court, gruesome killings, Isaiah and Joel Henry, murder of Henry cousins

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