Tina Tompkins WE 4 - Grade: A PDF

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Week 4 written report...

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Lockerbie Disaster Tina Tompkins Saint Leo University CRJ-548 05/27/2020 Dr. Pumphrey

Abstract Finding evidence at a crime scene can be difficult depending on the situation surrounding the crime. This proves to be true, especially when the crime scene involves explosive devices. Evidence can be projected miles from the initial blast site, leaving investigators to determine where the perimeter of the crime scene should be established and where the evidence may stop. This is even more difficult in aircraft crashes because the radius can be much larger and the evidence can be extremely small, especially if the crash was caused by an explosion. Though many may think that all evidence is destroyed during an explosion, this is not true. Evidence may be fragmented, but still identifiable after a bombing and key pieces of evidence regarding the bomb may still be intact enough for an identification. This information can assist investigators in finding the origin of the bomb and those responsible for creating and detonating it.

Lockerbie Disaster Introduction On December 21, 1988 Pan Am flight 103 was headed from London to New York when it exploded over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland. The explosion killed 270 of the plane’s passengers as well as 11 people that were on the ground when it made impact (ADST, 2013). The impact created a 150-foot-deep crater in the neighborhood of Sherwood Crescent and many pieces of the plane were found in neighboring communities, with the wreckage being found within an 850 square mile radius (FBI, 2018). Due to the widespread crime scene, with evidence spread in a large area, the investigation and identification of who was responsible for the bombing took many years. As with many investigations, the authorities were unsure of what caused flight 103 to descend and crash. All scenarios had to be taken into consideration while the evidence eventually led investigators to determine the cause of the crash was a bomb that was placed on board. Scene Overview In the 1980’s evidence preservation was not a priority for many police officers and the training was not always ideal. However, for the Lockerbie investigation, evidence preservation was ensured due to the magnitude of the crime scene. From the beginning, the Scottish police treated the plane crash as a crime scene and worked to preserve every piece of evidence that was collected. The most crucial evidence was found up to 80 miles away from the initial crash site, creating the need for an abundance of manpower and properly zoned locations for each group of investigators to search (FBI, 2018). As with other explosions, evidence can be often overlooked if investigators are unable to establish a perimeter in which the evidence essentially ends.

Though much further away than many may think possible, the evidence that was found involved pieces of a suitcase that housed a bomb, a circuit board and clothing (FBI, 2018). Important Evidence Explained There were thousands of pieces of evidence that were collected from the crime scene, though four were most crucial in identifying who was responsible for the bombing (Scharf, 2001). One piece of evidence involved the entire aircraft being reconstructed. Accident reconstruction can be an important aspect of any type of crash related crime scene. For aviation crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will obtain knowledge from professionals with technical understanding of aircraft frames, engines, propellers and other working mechanisms of the aircraft to obtain a proper reconstruction (Foreman, 1970). Obtaining an accurate reconstruction of the aircraft prior to the crash allows investigators to better understand the damage that occurred to each part and if it was caused by the crash itself or other damage, in this case a bomb. The professionals that are able to assist with this reconstruction are able to provide expert testimony about their role in the reconstruction to help jurors obtain a better understanding of how investigators were able to come to the conclusion about what occurred at the time of the incident. The aircraft reconstruction allowed for investigators to determine that a bomb was detonated in the undercarriage of the aircraft where the luggage belonging to the passengers was located (Scharf, 2001). The second piece of evidence was much smaller than the entire aircraft. A radio cassette player was found in the wreckage, which investigators believed housed the bomb. Due to evidence becoming fragmented upon explosion, it is difficult to determine where a bomb could be housed. However, investigators were able to locate explosive residue on the cassette player, allowing them to determine it was the source of the explosion. To identify objects that contain

explosive residue, an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) allows investigators to not only determine where explosive residue is located but also what type of explosives were used to detonate the explosive device (Forensic Science Simplified, 2013). With this information, investigators were able to determine that the radio cassette player was the source of the explosion. Explosive material was also found on a brown suitcase, which is believed to have housed the explosive cassette device (Scharf, 2001). The third crucial piece of evidence involved charred clothing that was inside of the suitcase that housed the explosive device. The clothing included two pairs of trousers, a baby jumper and an umbrella (Scharf, 2001). As proven in many previous cases, clothing fiber evidence can be an important piece of evidence in certain investigations. Fibers can be created naturally or man-made as well, the type of fiber used, the spinning method and the fabric construction can help investigators determine the origin of pieces of clothing in explosions (FBI, 2000). With the information obtained from the fibers of the clothing evidence, investigators determined that they originated in Malta and had been sold by a store called Mary’s House (Scharf, 2001). This type of information gives investigators the opportunity to narrow down the suspect pool based on the customers of this particular store. The fourth and final piece of evidence was the circuit board from the explosive device. While many other items around the explosive device may be destroyed, some fragments of the device may be intact. This includes switches, timers, wiring and circuit boards and this information can help identify who created the device or where it could have originated (Forensic Science Simplified, 2013). Circuit boards may be comprised of mercury, a relay, sound or light activated ignitions and passive or active infrared switches (Thurman, 2016). Due to these variations, investigators are able to narrow down an origin based on how certain terror groups

construct their explosive devices. The circuit board fragment found on a piece of the charred clothing found at the crime scene was not only identified as a long-delay integrated circuit timer but was also traced back to a manufacturer in Switzerland. This manufacturer created these types of circuit boards for the government of Libya, providing investigators with a key piece of evidence of the bomb’s origin (Thurman, 2016). Case Outcome These four pieces of evidence played substantial roles in solving the mystery of what happened to Pan Am flight 103. With the investigators proving that Libya had access to the exact circuit board that was used in this explosive device, they were able to identify the terrorist group responsible for the attack. Witness testimony also proved the investigator’s knowledge of the clothing being bought at a store in Malta, when a Libyan intelligence officer, Abdelbaset alMegrahi, was identified as being the individual who bought the clothing found at the Lockerbie crime scene. After an eight-month trial, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was found guilty of placing the suitcase containing the explosive device in the luggage belt at the London airport that would later be loaded into the luggage compartment of Pan Am flight 103 (Scharf, 2001). Though this evidence did not rule out other possible involvements, it did allow for investigators to determine at least one country’s involvement in the disaster. Conclusion Evidence plays an important role in every crime scene investigation. Some crime scenes are much larger than others and the Lockerbie crime scene was massive in terms of other crime scenes. The zone search pattern used by investigators worked well as crucial pieces of evidence were located, leading investigators to the origin of the explosive device. This case also proved

that even in an explosion, evidence should still be preserved during an investigation because key pieces, like the circuit board, could still be partially intact. This investigation was handled wonderfully considering the resources of the 1980’s as well as the large area in which investigators had to protect and search. Due to the diligence of the investigators, the families of those who perished on board were able to have some closure, knowing that the source of the explosion was identified, and a terrorist was found and convicted of the crime.

References Thurman, J. (2016). Practical Bomb Scene Investigation, Second Edition. CRC Press. ADST. (2013). The Lockerbie Bombing and Its Aftermath. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from https://adst.org/2013/12/the-bombing-of-pan-am-flight-103-over-lockerbie-december-211988/ Deedrick, D. (2000). Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence, Part 2, by Deedrick (Forensic Science Communications, July 2000). Retrieved May 28, 2020, from https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/about-us/lab/forensic-sciencecommunications/fsc/july2000/deedric3.htm FBI. (2018). Remembering Pan Am Flight 103. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/remembering-pan-am-flight-103-30-years-later-121418 Forensic Science Simplified. (2013). Explosives Analysis. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/explosives/how.html Foreman, M. (1970). Accident Reconstruction and the Use of Experts. Retrieved from https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2708&context=jalc Scharf, M. (2001). The Lockerbie Trial Verdict. Retrieved May 28, 2020, from https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/6/issue/2/lockerbie-trial-verdict...