The prosecution’s case in the Capitol Building arson trial suffered a series of damaging blows as a police investigator admitted the state lacked video evidence and revealed a collapsed cooperation deal with defendant John Nyanti.
Under cross-examination in Criminal Court “A,” Liberia National Police investigator Rafael Wilson became a focal point for the defense’s attack on the integrity of the state’s investigation. Wilson confirmed that John Nyanti was specifically retrieved from Ghana with the assistance of Ghanaian authorities under an “intended cooperation plan” to aid the prosecution. He stated Nyanti was lodged in a hotel near Roberts International Airport to limit his contact while the arrangement was discussed—a deal that fell apart under scrutiny.
The witness struggled to defend the investigation’s procedures. He conceded he could not verify if Nyanti personally wrote or signed his own police statement, noting it was prepared and signed by another officer in his absence. Wilson also failed to provide clarity on the chain of custody, unable to confirm whether Nyanti was first taken to the National Security Agency (NSA) before being transferred to police custody, raising defense concerns over constitutional rights violations.
Most critically, Wilson admitted the government possesses no video evidence linking the defendants to the crime. When asked by defense counsel Cllr. Arthur T. Johnson if CCTV footage from the Capitol Building existed, Wilson stated, “At the time of the fire incident… we discovered that there was nothing or no CCTV camera installed in the entire Capitol building.” He added that investigators had only recommended installing cameras for future incidents.
These admissions were underscored by a dramatic courtroom outburst from defendant Nyanti on June 13, 2025. Escorted in handcuffs, Nyanti publicly accused the Boakai administration of attempted coercion, shouting, “You say you have evidence, but you want to give me 200k to lie against Fonati Koffa!” He insisted he had been in Liberia since June 6 and alleged pressure from state actors to provide false testimony against former Speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa.
The defendants were indicted by the Montserrado County Grand Jury for charges related to the December 18, 2024, fire that damaged the Legislature’s Joint Chambers. With the prosecution’s methods and evidence now under severe scrutiny, the defense is poised to challenge the reliability of the state’s entire case.
