In response to the recent ruling in the Charloe Musu murder case by the Supreme Court, pathologist Dr. Benedict Kolee has reiterated his testimony, emphasizing that no male DNA was found in the home of Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott by him or the defense pathologist.
Dr. Kolee, a well-known Liberian pathologist trained by the United Nations, rejected the assertions made by Chief Justice Sie-A-Nyene Gyapay Yuoh that he misled the Judge of Criminal Court A and the jurors during the trial in which three individuals were handed life imprisonment sentences.
The Supreme Court, in its August 28 ruling, raised concerns about the credibility of Dr. Kolee, the government-appointed pathologist from the John F. Kennedy Medical Center.
The High Court noted discrepancies in Dr. Kolee's testimony, which, according to the court, contributed to an inaccurate life sentence for Cllr. Musu-Scott and her relatives. During the trial, the Supreme Court stated that Dr. Kolee provided misleading information to Judge Roosevelt Willie and the Criminal Court 'A' jury.
Initially, Chief Justice Yuoh noted that Dr. Kolee testified as a state witness that only female DNA samples were found at the crime scene, but later changed his testimony to admit the presence of male DNA on the victim's left fingernail. This alteration in his testimony occurred when he was called as a rebuttal witness to challenge the DNA report provided by Dr. Mathias Okeye, a Nigerian pathologist based in the US.
She highlighted the significance of the inaccuracies in Dr. Kolee's analysis in the decision to overturn the case verdict.
But Dr. Kollie, in a statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend, reacted sharply to the ruling, which was published in the Daily Observer last week. Dr. Kolee stood by his original statements made in court, insisting that he and his team did not err in their analysis of the case.
He said though he does not intend to pass further opinion on a case in which the Supreme Court has rendered judgment, he emphatically stands by his testimony made in court during the trial.
He says that the victim Charloe Musu was stabbed to death.
"I STAND BY ALL STATEMENTS MADE IN COURT during the hearing of the said case," Dr. Kolee said in the statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend. "I wish to state in clear and unequivocal terms that NO wrongs were done by me and my team in the said case; the wrongdoers, in this case, are those who maliciously stabbed Charloe Musu at least nine times leading to her eventual murder."
He expressed his firm belief that the focus should remain on finding the perpetrators of Charloe Musu's murder rather than continuing the trial in the court of public opinion.
"It will make more sense for the Judiciary to focus its attention and resources on finding the murderers of Charloe Musu, a human being who has rights like any Liberian under our Law," he said.
Dr. Kolee noted that continuing the trial of this case in a 'court of public opinion', as evidenced by the ongoing media campaign that seeks to implicate "innocent individuals like us, amounts to a disservice that we don't deserve given our enormous unpaid contributions to the criminal justice system of Liberia."
Dr. Kolee recounted the events surrounding the case, pointing out specific details regarding the investigation and subsequent proceedings.
"On the fateful Wednesday night of February 22, 2023, three security guards were watching the heavily fortified home of the former Chief Justice when one of the Security guards was alarmed that the little girl (Charloe) had been crying in the house for the past few hours, his colleagues responded by saying that the girl was 'hard-headed', and "maybe the Oldma was disciplining her," he said in the statement. "The security officer said he walked from the palava hut where they were sitting to the window of Cllr. Scott's house and found Gertrude Newton (one of the former convicts) standing at the window."
"At that point, Gertrude [had] alarmed that an attacker was in the house. It was later uncovered that Charloe's half dead body was lying in the bathroom of Cllr. Scott. Cllr. Scott said in a police interview that she saw, and pepper sprayed the attacker but when the first responders came into the house, no attacker was found."
Dr. Kolee added that an immediate investigation was launched but was derailed for almost three weeks after Cllr. Verdier gave a vivid but misleading description of the alleged killers.
He observed that the lead from Verdier was not helpful and succeeded in distracting investigators for almost three weeks.
"Those baseless pronouncements also impacted public opinion and had a negative impact on the investigation."
The pathologist pointed out that when former Justice Scott was later called in for questioning, she came in with her lawyers and provided statements.
He highlighted the efforts made by him and his team, including conducting an autopsy and meticulously handling crucial evidence.
"Our team was then asked to perform an autopsy on the remains of Charloe Musu to provide the scientific cause of death. Around the same time, Cllr. Scott made a formal request to the Ministry of Justice for the family to be allowed to view the remains of Charloe Musu before the autopsy could be conducted. This request was granted but I insisted that this could only be done in my presence and the presence of law enforcement officers since the remains were crucial evidence," he said.
"Our autopsy report was condemned by the legal team of Cllr. Scott and there were speculations that a second autopsy would have been done. Even in the face of a roaming second autopsy, there were multiple requests from Cllr. Scott to have the remains of Charloe Musu given to the family for burial, a move that I opposed because it amounted to destroying evidence since the case was still in court."
Dr. Kolee further recalled that even in the face of his opposition to the request, permission was granted to Cllr. Augustine Fayiah (current Solicitor General) to receive and bury Charloe Musu while the family was in jail.
Fortunately, he stated that the burial didn't take place before the second autopsy.
"Had this happened, it would have been a replica of the case of Angel Topka in which the same Nigerian Pathologist (Mathias Okoye) performed an autopsy on the skeletal remains of Angel Tokpa and ruled that no injuries were found leading to the acquittal of two convicted murders (Hans Cape hart Williams and his fiancée, Madia Paykue); the two were facing a death sentence. Hans and his fiancée fled to the US directly from court, I don't have any evidence of them ever returning to Liberia since then."
He clarified that Dr. Okoye was not an independent Pathologist as perceived in the public because; he was hired by the former Chief Justice.
According to him, pathologist Okoye showed up at the St. Moses Funeral home with his wife, daughter, and one retired policeman who was said to be the Forensic investigator.
He disclosed that the administration of St. Moses Funeral Home was not informed about the pending second autopsy, at which time he called the Justice Ministry to do the letter of authorization to Dr. Okoye.
"I then informed Dr. Okoye that he needed to have asked the funeral home to remove the remains of Charloe Musu from the freezer for defrosting at least 12hrs before autopsy. I expressed doubt that he could not possibly do an autopsy on frozen remains. He responded that it was possible, and he just needed a green light."
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Dr. Kolee pointed out that he then went into the back of the funeral home, where the freezers are located, with one Wollor, a mortician at St. Moses, to view the body.
"To my utmost surprise, the FREEZER CONTAINING THE REMAINS OF CHARLOE MUSU HAS BEEN NOT FROZEN FOR WEEKS and Charloe remains were already decaying! I called Moses (owner of St. Moses Funeral Home) and reported the event to him, he was equally shocked. At the autopsy, Dr. Okoye however praised the level of preservation of the body (in contrast to the feeling I had); he said repeatedly that "the freezer is excellent; I can't imagine how the body is still so preserved. Whether this was a power failure or sabotage is anybody's guess."
Dr. Kolee pointed out that pathologist Okoye also visited the home of former Justice Scott and took samples from the home and the body of Charloe for DNA testing.
"His test didn't reveal any male DNA in the home of Cllr. Scott (crime scene) contrary to statements ascribed to the Supreme Court by the Daily Observer. All samples collected from the remains of Charloe showed the presence of female DNA. There were NO male autosomal markers (24 markers that are usually used in conventional DNA testing)."
Meanwhile, Dr. Kolee underscored the importance of justice for Charloe Musu and urged the judiciary to utilize the available evidence to bring the perpetrators to account. Despite the acquittal of Cllr. Gloria Musu Scott and the co-defendants by the Supreme Court, Dr. Kolee expressed concern about ongoing attempts to vilify individuals involved in the case and stressed the need for a swift resolution to ensure justice for the victim.
