‘Suspects without Victims?’ -Police charges intruders of Justice Scott’s home without family involvement

MONROVIA:  The family of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott has expressed shock over what they referred to as “the dramatic action of police investigators”  to charge alleged  intruders arrested at the residence of former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott’s residence without any contact of or reference to the family.

Several individuals considered intruders were, on February 15, 2024, arrested at the Virginia home of Justice Scott after community residents alerted the police, making it the fourth time such intrusion has reportedly happened.

The suspects were taken into police custody, supposedly investigated and charged without any reference to the owner(s) of the property they are accused of breaking into. To the dismay of the family, the investigators charged the suspects with burglary and attached an amount of US$4,000 as the supposed cost of either items stolen or the extent of damage done to the property (house) without the involvement of the property owner or any member of the family.

The charge sheet, a copy of which is in the possession of this paper, does not mention the property or house the suspects intruded into, neither does it mention the name of person or family the suspects allegedly stole from, nor who is the complainant the police interviewed to know what was stolen or the extent of damage done to the property.

This, the family said, is strange and worrisome and could be a deliberate attempt to complicate the case and eventually let the suspects go free without any deeper investigation as to how they gained access to the house that should be under police protection as mandated by Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie of Criminal Court ‘A’.

Although the family has no fault with the arrest of the purported intruders, the spokesman for the family, Mr. Nathaniel Toe, has notwithstanding alarmed that the manner in which the matter is being handled appears to be a calculated plan intended to confuse the matter and to lose the case.

On this premise, Toe said the suspects could be set free without a thorough and proper investigation that involving the family, which he noted could unearth some interesting revelations as to how the suspects entered the premises, who they really are, what they did, and the value of what was stolen as well as the extent of damage done.

On the Thursday, April 25th, 2024 edition of “Let’s Talk Liberia”, a talk-show on the JOY FM 101.5, Mr. Toe wondered how did the investigators arrive at or derive the $4,000 mentioned in the charge sheet since they, the police, neither talked to the owner of the property nor any member of the family.

Mr. Toe further wondered how the police and state lawyers intend to properly and successfully prosecute the suspects arrested in a private home if the owner of the home is not contacted to give inventory information as to what was stolen or the extent of damage done to said property.

He also drew attention to the fact that the suspects were arrested with keys, which they used to open the gates and doors to the property, a chilling reminder of the attacker of the late Charloe, who was heard aggressively demanding keys from her on the fateful night of the murder.

The question of a possibility of intrusion into the former Chief Justice’s residence was a major factor during the trial, the family spokesman said, after investigators of the Liberia National Police ruled out any possibility that anybody could intrude into the house, a conclusion that defense lawyers resisted through evidence, including expert testimonies.

The family insisted that there were many possibilities of intrusion, and that the murder was committed by an intruder on the night of February 22, 2023.