Updated

Two men in the South American country of Guyana have been sentenced to death for a 2008 massacre in which nine civilians and three police officers were killed.

A high court late Thursday ordered the two men to be hanged.

Prosecutors say Dennis Williams and Royden Williams were part of a group that went to the jungle community of Bartica to steal from gold miners and wound up killing the 12 people.

Police say the men also were part of a gang also linked to a separate killing of six adults and five children just months earlier.

Several inmates remain on death row in Guyana, although the country hasn't hanged a prisoner since 1997.