Berbice men charged with murder of 13-year old boy

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 September 2017, 17:53 by Denis Chabrol

Omardai Christopher and Hillary Edwards at the New Amsterdam Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Two men were Wednesday charged with the murder of the 13-year old teenage boy who was allegedly raped and then tied and dumped in the Berbice River in an unconscious state one week ago.

Omardai Christopher, 19 and Hillary Edwards, 29, were not required to plea to the indictable offence.

Prosecutor Godfrey Playter reported that the police needs time to file and the date of Friday 8th December, 2017 was set for reports.

“Damn rapist!”. “Jail them and throw away the keys!”. “Is the little child they kill!”. “Murderers!”. This is was among the few statements hurled at the two suspects who were today thrown before the court for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Leonard Archibald. Bound with handcuffs, one of the suspects who aided in the horrid crime burst into tears after being labelled as a ‘murderer’. The men, Christopher and Hillary were charged separately.

The charge read stated that the men at Sister’s Village, East Bank Berbice, between Sunday 17th and Saturday 23rd September murdered of Leonard Archibald contrary to the common law.
This is the first criminal offense for the 19-year-old suspect. Both men were not required to plea to the charge. Police

Police said they charged the duo, just days after one of the men confessed to the crime and the other one allegedly implicated himself in the act.

Late last week, investigators were led to a aback a house at Sister’s Village and were shown Archibald’s bicycle that he had been riding last week Sunday just ahead of sisters while they had been returning home to Brother’s Village from a birthday party.

Archibald’s badly decomposed body was found in between several vines by a search party that was made up of residents, family members, police and coast guardsmen.