Friday, we all had Starbucks for breakfast. A van from the police station came to pick us up. When we got to the station, an inspector gave us a brief talk about the station we were at, how he feel is about the single integrated police service in Scotland (happened in 2014), the main crime focus of the area, and answered our general questions. Then, we had a presentation by a Mr. Costa. He was on the force for 30 years and he worked as a detective on the Lockerbie bombing case for 20 years. He came out of retirement this year to continue to work on the Lockerbie bombing case. For this of you who don’t know, Pan American Flight 103 was just above Lockerbie, Scotland when a suitcase exploded, causing the whole plane to come down in different parts. The date was December 21, 1988. All 259 people aboard the plane died as well as 11 people on the ground. With all the gathering of evidence, forensic scientists were able to conclude that plastic explosives were put into a Toshiba radio and set on a timer. The suitcase was traced back to being first put on an airplane in Malta, then transferred to Frankfurt, then Heathrow on the way to JFK. Forensic scientists were able to trace back that material to the Libyan Intelligence Agency. More specifically, a man named Megrahi. The believed intentions were for the plane to explode over the ocean so that no evidence could be recovered. But instead of setting the time for 19:30, the detective believes since Arab is read right to left they mixed up and set the timer for 19:03. But the true reason for the time is still unknown. However, he can confidently say that the bomb was not supposed to ever get to JFK or explode in the US. It has been concluded that this terrorist act was from the Libyans in response to the takedown of an airbus in Libya by the US. Megrahi and Fhimah were the two men tried for the case in 2000. Megrahi for the conspiracy, actually making the bomb, and packing it with random clothes he bought in Malta. And Fhimah was his airport contact that put a rush order on the suitcase so that it could board the flights without a passenger. Unfortunately, Fhimah was acquitted due to a lack of evidence directly against him. Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison. The trial was held in the Netherlands for neutral ground, but has Scottish law applied. Therefore, a life sentence is really in like 15 years. He was released in 2009 because he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. He was welcomed back to Libya as a hero. He died three years after his release. The Scottish police and the FBI are still trying to make a case against Fhimah. They don’t have double jeopardy, so as long as new evidence is discovered, he can be tried again. Evidence is still being found. Five years ago, a fully intact life vest was found in the forest. As the forest is cut down, the detective expects to find more evidence. Even last month, a farmer found a piece of the landing gear in his fields. After the presentation he showed us the on site evidence room. He showed us the original 12 pictures that the shop owner in Malta was given to point out Megrahi. We could not take pictures. Most of what was at the station is documentation of the evidence rather than the evidence. Most of the evidence is kept at a non disclosed location somewhere in Scotland. He did, however, have a piece of circuit board from the radio on hand. And he showed the other forensic science student Ethan and I these huge notebooks of forensic photography comparing known and unknown samples. Then, he took all of us out to four of the sectors the crime secede was split into. The crime seen was 856 sq miles. The first sector was where the main hit took place. Engines 1, 2, and 4 were found here. There was a memorial garden there where families decided to not rebuild. There is a house at the end of the lane which belonged to a priest. His house was the only one to not catch fire in that neighborhood. The second sector is where the main fuselage was found. There is a remembrance plaque there. Sector C included the building where engine 3 fell. And the final sector we visited was Sector D about four miles from Lockerbie. Here, there was a church where one of the victims was buried. The field across the road is where the cockpit was found. There is also a remembrance room here. Our last stop was visiting a large graveyard that had a Lockerbie memorial located inside. Many of the victims were very young. There was a group of students from Syracuse aboard the plane. Each year, a male and female student are chosen from Lockerbie to attend Syracuse with their full tuition paid. After the solemn day, we were returned to our hotel. If anyone wants to know more about this case, please let me know. I took many pages of notes, and I would be happy to share.