Thomas Thurman
Encyclopedia
He left the FBI lab in 1997.
Inspector-General's report
In his 1997 report the US Inspector GeneralInspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
, Michael Bromwich, criticized Thurman for altering laboratory reports in such a way that rendered subsequent prosecution pointless. Following this criticism, Thurman was assigned to duties outside the FBI lab and, as a result, was not to be called in any trial as an expert witness
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
. After leaving the FBI, Thurman joined the faculty at the School of Criminal Justice, Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
.
Forensic investigator
Thomas Thurman was said to have played a crucial role in leading the investigation of both Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
and UTA Flight 772
UTA Flight 772
UTA Flight 772 of the French airline Union des Transports Aériens was a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Paris CDG airport in France....
bombings to the door of the Libyan regime. He was accused by French investigative journalist, Pierre Péan
Pierre Péan
Pierre Péan is a renowned French investigative journalist and author of many books concerned with political scandals.-Books, investigations and controversies:...
, of conspiring to incriminate Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in an article published in March 2001, just after the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...
had ended with the conviction of Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on the strength of just one piece of hard evidence: a tiny fragment of a timing device manufactured by the Swiss firm Mebo. Two years earlier, six Libyans were tried in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
and convicted in 1999 by a Paris court for the UTA Flight 772 bombing. Péan claimed there was something wrong:
- "It is striking to witness the similarity of the discoveries, by the FBI, of the scientific proof of the two aircraft that were sabotaged: the Pan Am Boeing 747Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
and the UTA DC-10UTA Flight 772UTA Flight 772 of the French airline Union des Transports Aériens was a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Paris CDG airport in France....
. Among the thousands or rather tens of thousands of pieces of debris collected near the crash sites, just one PCBPrinted circuit boardA printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
fragment was found in each case, which carried enough information to allow its identification: Mebo for the Boeing 747 and "TY" (from TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
) for the DC-10."
In 1989, Thurman had conducted test explosions in the US, when he used metal baggage containers, loaded with suitcases which were filled with clothing wrapped around bombs, to replicate the aircraft bombings. The tests were witnessed by British forensic expert, Alan Feraday. Thurman was publicly credited with figuring out the timer fragment's evidentiary importance when he told ABC News in 1991 that he had matched the Lockerbie timer fragment with a timer that had been confiscated in West Africa from Libyan agents:
- "When that identification was made, of the timer, I knew that we had it," Thurman said.
Three years later, he claimed credit for identifying the Mebo MST-13 timer (proven at the Lockerbie trial to have triggered the PA 103 bomb) when he was interviewed in the 1994 film Maltese Double Cross. Thurman said he had made the identification on June 15, 1990. Because of the IG
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
's 1997 ruling, Thurman was not called to give evidence at the UTA Flight 772
UTA Flight 772
UTA Flight 772 of the French airline Union des Transports Aériens was a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Paris CDG airport in France....
trial in Paris in 1999 or the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...
, which took place at Camp Zeist, Netherlands from May 2000 to January 2001.
Lockerbie review
On June 28, 2007, after a three-year review, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review CommissionScottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is a non-departmental public body in Scotland, established by the Criminal Procedure Act 1995 ....
announced that it was granting Megrahi a second appeal against conviction.
In a statement dated June 29, 2007, Dr Hans Köchler
Hans Köchler
Hans Köchler is a professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and president of the International Progress Organization, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations...
, international observer at the Lockerbie trial, expressed his surprise at the SCCRC's narrow focus and apparent bias towards the judicial establishment:
- "In giving exoneration to the police, prosecutors and forensic staff, I think they show their lack of independence. No officials to be blamed, simply a Maltese shopkeeper."
Second appeal
New information casting fresh doubts about Megrahi's conviction was examined by three judges at a preliminary hearing in the Appeal Court in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
on October 11, 2007:
- His lawyers claim that vital documents, which emanate from the CIA and relate to the Mebo timer that allegedly detonated the Lockerbie bomb, were withheld from the trial defence team.
- Tony GauciTony GauciTony Gauci is a former proprietor of a clothes shop in Malta. According to evidence given at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial in 2000, Mr Gauci sold the clothes which were said to have been wrapped around the improvised explosive device that brought the aircraft down...
, chief prosecution witness at the trial, is alleged to have been paid $2 million for testifying against Megrahi. - Mebo's owner, Edwin BollierEdwin BollierEdwin Bollier and his partner, Erwin Meister, founded Mebo Telecommunications AG in Zürich, Switzerland in 1969.-Radio Nordsee International:...
, has said that in 1991 the FBI offered him $4 million to testify that the timer fragment found near the scene of the crash was part of a Mebo MST-13 timer supplied to Libya. - Former employee of Mebo Ulrich Lumpert swore an affidavitAffidavitAn affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
in July 2007 saying that he had given false evidence at the trial concerning the MST-13 timer
The second appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal
Court of Criminal Appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeal is the name of existing courts of Scotland and Ireland, and an historic court in England and Wales.- Ireland :See Court of Criminal Appeal ...
was cancelled with Megrahi's release on humanitarian grounds in 2009.
External links
See also
- Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103Alternative theories into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103 conspiracy theories suggest a number of possible explanations for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. Some of the theories preceded the official investigation by Scottish police and the FBI; others arose from different interpretation of evidence presented at...
- Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer missionHans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer missionHans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission stemmed from the dispute between the United Kingdom, the United States, and Libya concerning arrangements for the trial of two Libyans accused of causing the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988.The dispute was resolved on...
- Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103The investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 began at 19:03 on December 21, 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The perpetrators had intended the plane to crash into the sea, destroying any traceable evidence, but the late departure...
- Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trialPan Am Flight 103 bombing trialThe Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...
- Jean-Louis BruguièreJean-Louis BruguièreJean-Louis Bruguière was the leading French investigating magistrate in charge of counter-terrorism affairs. He was appointed in 2004 vice-president of the Paris Court of Serious Claims . He has garnered controversy for various acts, including the indictment of Rwandan president Paul Kagame for the...
- Dr Thomas Hayes