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More than a dozen of the passengers who perished were from Massachusetts - including people who lived in South Hadley and Shrewsbury.
On Monday, Dec. 21, the U.S. Department of Justice announced new charges against Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, aka Hassa Abu Ojalya Ibrahim, or Masud, for his role in building the bomb that killed 270 people in the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland 32 years ago.
The U.S. thanked Scottish police and “lord advocate” for their unyielding investigation of the tragedy, making it possible for the U.S. to file charges.
“To all the victims and the families, we cannot take away your pain from your loss, but we can seek justice for you,” said out-going Attorney General William “Bill” Barr.
“Our message to other terrorists around the world is this - you will not succeed - if you attack Americans, no matter where you are, no matter how long it takes, you will be pursued to the ends of the earth until justice is done,” Barr said.
On Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, the charges filed against Masud were: the destruction of an aircraft resulting in death and destruction of a vehicle by means of an explosive resulting in death.
Masud is also suspected of other plots against America including the 1986 bombing of the LaBelle Discotheque in Germany. He is being held, right now, by Libyan officials as the U.S. seeks to have Masud extradited for trial.
Among the victims of the Pan Am tragedy were 13 Massachusetts residents and numerous people from the area: Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Vermont, and New Jersey.
The victims from Massachusetts were:
- Cynthia Joan Smith, 21, Milton
- James Andrew Campbell Pitt, 24, South Hadley
- Sarah S.B. Philipps, 20, Newtonville
- Daniel Emmett O’Connor, 31, Dorchester
- Wendy Anne Lincoln, 23, North Adams
- Julianne Frances Kelly, 20, Dedham
- Nicole Elise Boulanger, 21, Shrewsbury
- Julian MacBain Benello, 25, Brookline
- Nicholas Bright, 32, Brookline
- Gary Leonard Colasanti, 20, Melrose
- Joseph Patrick Curry, 31, Fort Devens
- Mary Alice Lincoln Johnson, 25, Wayland
- Thomas Edwin Walker, 47, Quincy.
BACKGROUND
On Dec. 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded into pieces when a bomb in the forward cargo area exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland about 28 minutes after takeoff. The plane was flying from London-Heathrow en route to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
The victims on the flight were from 21 counties. Among them were 190 Americans, of which 35 were Syracuse University students returning from a study abroad program for the holidays.
In 1991 an investigation into the bombing led to criminal charges against two Libyan intelligence operatives, Abel Baset Ali al-Megrahi (Megrahi) and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah (Fhima).
The AG’s office described Masud’s role in the bombing thusly:
According to the court affidavit in Masud’s case, “in the winter of 1988, Masud was summoned by a Libyan intelligence official to meet at that official’s office in Tripoli, Libya, where he was directed to fly to Malta with a prepared suitcase. He did so, where he was met by Megrahi and Fhimah at the airport. After Masud spent approximately three or four days in the hotel, Megrahi and Fhimah instructed Masud to set the timer on the device in the suitcase for the following morning, so that the explosion would occur exactly eleven hours later.
“According to the affidavit, the suitcase used by Masud was a medium-sized Samsonite suitcase that he used for traveling. Megrahi and Fhimah were both at the airport on the morning of Dec. 21, 1988, and Masud handed the suitcase to Fhimah after Fhimah gave him a signal to do so. Fhimah then placed the suitcase on the conveyor belt. Masud then left. He was given a boarding pass for a Libyan flight to Tripoli, which was to take off at 9:00 a.m.
“Three or four days after returning to Libya, Masud and Megrahi met with a senior Libyan intelligence official, who thanked them for a successful operation. Approximately three months after that, Masud and Fhimah met with Qaddafi, and others, who thanked them for carrying out a great national duty against the Americans, and Qaddafi added that the operation was a total success.”
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