Nigeria, Sept. 20 -- It was one of the most brutal massacres of the Liberian civil war. In April 1990, soldiers loyal to embattled President Samuel Doe shot and hacked to death 600 men, women, children and babies seeking refuge in the church.

It would become known as the Lutheran Church massacre and brought international attention to the conflict that was unfolding.

The massacre is blamed for a cascade of revenge killings that fueled 14-years of civil conflict that destroyed the country and left 250,000 people dead.

For more than three decades no one has been held to account. That changed in a Philadelphia court on Friday when a judge made a surprise ruling that held Moses Thomas, a former top commander with the elite Special Anti-Terr...