A judge and two legal clerks investigating the assassination of the Haitian president have been forced to go on the run after receiving death threats.
Justice of the Peace Carl Henry Destin and clerks Marcelin Valentin and Waky Philostene say the threats began rolling in hours after the killing of former premier Jovenel Moise on January 7.
They were repeatedly ordered to remove sworn testimony of two witnesses from their investigation documentation - and forced to go into hiding as the threats ramped up. The clerks received a text warning that failure to comply with orders to tamper meant they'd get 'a bullet in your head.'
'There are great interests at play that are not interested in solving this case,' Valentin told the New York Times. 'There's no progress, no will to find the truth.'
He added: 'This is an exceptional case. But it is being conducted in the same system of impunity and corruption as all the others.
Carl Henry Destin, a Haitian justice of the peace, was working with FBI agents and forensic teams during his investigation on July 15. He is now on the run along with two judges after receiving death threats for failure to alter evidence and sworn statements
Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, left, and Haitian First Lady Martine Moïse are seen at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on May 23, 2018
Now the three are on the run, changing their location every few hours, with a backpack full of legal documents that could determine whether or not the nation sees justice over the murder of their president.
During their investigation, the clerks witnessed police moving the bodies of the suspects and tampering and removing evidence, all while denying the investigators access to the crime scene for nine hours after the killing.
As Justice of the Peace, Destin also fulfils the role of crime scene investigator, and is tasked with checking out a crime scene.
But he says he was barred from going near Jovenel's body for nine hours after his death, with officials claiming they feared assassins might still be on the loose.
Court documents also show that two Columbian former soldiers killed after the assassination were found with about $42,000 in cash on them, but subsequent reports exclude mention of the money among the evidence collected by police.
Valentin said that after reviewing the interrogations of more than 50 suspects, he received a call from the late-president's security chief, Jean Laguel Civil, asking him what the suspects had said.
Suspects accused of playing a role in the assassination of the president sit up against a white wall with a group of weapons lined up in front of them on July 8, hours after Jovenel Moise was killed
Suspects in the assassination of President Jovenel are shown to the media in Port-au-Prince on July 8
Later that day, an unknown man entered his office to demand that he had two prominent Haitians - Reginald Boulos, a businessman, and Youri Latortue, a politician - to the suspects' statements in order to implicate the men in the assassination plot.
When Valentin refused, the death threats began. Both men deny all involvement in the case, and say an attempt is being made to frame them.
'Clerk, you can expect a bullet in your head,' read a text message Valentin received on July 16, according to a complaint filed to the prosecutor's office. 'We ordered you to do something, and you're doing jack all.'
Both Philostene and Destin said they received similar threats after being pressured to modify sworn statements.
Mrs Moise appeared in her first TV interview since the attack and asked why not a single security guard who was protecting the home was injured. (Pictured: People look into a police car s the crowd surrounds the Petionville Police Station where armed men were accused of being involve in the assassination of the president were taken)
MSAU Marines were sent to Haiti on July 16 in wake of the assassination of
