As the third episode of Lockerbie: A Search For Truth begins, it is May 3, 2000 11 years since the Lockerbie bombing. The trial of the century begins at Camp Zeist. Dan and Susan Cohen speak to the press about their daughter who was 20 when she was blown up over Lockerbie. Jim Swire (Colin Firth) says it must be proven beyond all reasonable doubt that they were responsible for the bombing. Brian Murtagh (Ian Porter) with the US Department of Justice addresses everyone. Jim and the others receive a list of the prosecution witnesses. Jim tells Brian that he and John Mosey (Darren Strange) are representing the UK Families Group. They’ll be there every day. Brian says the trial may take six months, but he’s confident they’ll get a conviction. Jim sees Murray Guthrie (Sam Troughton) nearby just before the trial begins.

Before long, Lamin Fhimah (Mudar Abbara) and Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi (Ardalan Esmaili) are brought into the courtroom. Al-Megrahi sees his family sitting nearby. The accusations are read. Alan Turnbull (Oliver Maltman) turns the attention to the events of December 21, 1988. Roland talks about seeing the wing and following it until it disappeared behind the buildings. Ellen says it was like the world was on fire. Ferrie testifies that they had to look for any passengers who may need medical attention. There were none. Stuart talks about finding a young lady near his house. The testimony continues. Later, Jim checks on Jane (Catherine McCormack). Jane questions why she didn’t come to the ice rink with him. She says the poor people in Lockerbie never asked for any of this. Jane wonders if the accused did it. Jim says he’s watched them closely, but he hasn’t seen a flicker or anything. He believes they did it because everything points to them.

Jane leaves Jim alone. He begins going through the evidence himself. On day 15 of the trial, Murray joins Jim and says he thought he’d get closer to the action. Thomas Hayes (Nicholas Gerard-Martin) testifies about an exploding bomb and how it will generate intense heat. The forensic scientist with the Royal Armaments Research and Development Establishment explains it would have sent out tiny shards. That’s why they searched for parts of the explosive device lodged in charred and damaged clothing. He eventually found a blast-damaged electronic fragment lodged inside the charred remains of a shirt. Alastair Campbell (Robert Cavanah) points out that the fragment is on the evidence table. Hayes says he thought it was significant, but he left RARDE before it was identified. He was succeeded by Allen Feraday (Jamie Newall) who says the fragment seemed to be the only part of the circuit board from the timer which detonated the bomb aboard Flight 103.

He could not initially determine what type of time it was. A year later, Thomas Thurman with the FBI found a match. The fragment materials and tracking pattern were extensively compared with circuit boards within timers which the FBI had recovered a few years previously of a type called MST-13. It was designed and manufactured by a Swiss company called MEBO based in Zurich. The timers were seized from agents of the JSO, the Libyan Intelligence Agency. Feraday points out that the tracks present on the fragment are of copper covered by a layer of pure tin. Later, Jim calls Jane to say it was amazing the police found such a thing. The prosecution just needs to prove that the fragment came from the same batch of timers sold to Libya. Jane begins panicking and thinking about the explosion. Jim checks on her. He says Edwin Bollier (Andy Nyman) will be testifying. He’s basically an arms dealer and the prosecution needs him to say the timers were supplied by his company.

On Day 43, Bollier explains he’s the co-owner of MEBO which manufactures and sells electronic and electrical components. He confirms they make timers like the MST-13. When asked if the company sold timers to the Libyan intelligence agency, Bollier says what he does is perfectly legal. He admits they supplied Libya with 20 of the timers. Bollier knows Megrahi who was a partner in ABH which is a Libyan company based in Zurich. ABH rented office space from Bollier’s company so they’re on the same floor. Bollier is asked whether Megrahi personally ordered the times from him. Bollier says his dealings were with friends of Megrahi, but he believes Megrahi had a high position. Turnbull turns the conversation to the timer fragment image PT35-B. Bollier seems interested in the picture. He says it’s not the same fragment. Bollier goes on to say it looks similar but it’s not the same. He asks if he can examine the physical fragment.

When he gets a closer look, Bollier says it’s not the same fragment he was shown in Scotland. Murray whispers to Jim that he’s trying to distance himself. Bollier is asked if it was among the timers sold to Libya. He says yes. Bollier admits to taking them to Libya and seeing tests with them. Tony Gauci (Frank Crudele) is set to be the next star witness. Jim and Murray talk about Tony who owns Mary’s House in Malta. The indictment alleges the clothes wrapped around the bomb were bought from Tony’s shop. When Tony was interviewed, he remembers the Libyan customer he’d sold the clothes to. Jim explains the prosecution needs Tony to link one of the suspects to the bomb. In court, Campbell questions Tony Gauci about Scottish police visiting his shop in Sliema, Malta. Tony remembers Detective Harry Bell visiting him. He recalls selling clothes to a certain customer just before Christmas. Tony knew the man was Libyan. He explains that many men from Libya fly to Malta for business and pleasure.

He sources the shirts from Malta since he’s dealt with the manufacturer, Slalom, for many years. Tony Gauci says Megrahi resembles the man who came to his shop. He identified the man from photos and identity parades. Tony says it didn’t seem important to him what he was buying. The man allegedly said, “None of these clothes are for me.” During a break, Murray asks Jim if he thinks it’s odd that the DOJ is there every day even though they’re not part of the trial. Jim says they have every right because they dropped the indictment. He also points out that Libyan officials are there. William Taylor (Jack Tarlton) with the defense asks Tony how many interviews he conducted with Detective Bell and the Scottish police. Taylor says it was 18 interviews and 19 statements. He goes on to say Tony has had difficulty identifying Mr. Megrahi before. In one statement, he described the man as around 50 and six feet tall.

Megrahi would’ve been 36 when he bought the clothes. Taylor also points out that Tony listed the items purchased from him and he didn’t include a shirt. Taylor says there was no mention of a shirt until statement number 17. Tony agrees it would be difficult to remember anything after all that time. Jim and Murray talk about Tony’s testimony. They’re not impressed. Murray says Tony mentioned a Mr. Mohammed Abu Talb a year and a half before he named Megrahi. Talb is a convicted Palestinian terrorist and one of the Scottish police’s initial suspects for the bombing. Murray admits there are suddenly a lot more questions. Jim goes over the evidence against both men, including the fact that Fhimah wrote about the Air Malta tags in his diary. He admits they have a lot against them. Jim calls Jane who doesn’t answer. He explains they’re four months into the trial now and things could be going better. Jane leaves home.

She visits Mrs. Walker because she wants to know where her daughter was found. Walker shows her where they found Flora. Jane gets on the ground and sobs. Then, she goes to Flora’s gravesite. In court, the third star witness, Majid Giaka (Said Serhan), is set to testify. His voice will be distorted to protect his identity. Giaka says he became a CIA informant because he no longer wanted to work with the Libyan Intelligence. He confirms he was previously an employee of Libyan Arab Airline at Malta Airport. Giaka says he wrote a report for the JSO about how a person could place an unaccompanied bag onboard an airline flight. That happened a few months before the US attack on Tripoli in 1986. The JSO was furious and decided that Libya would have revenge. Giaka says he submitted his report to the Head of Airline Security, Megrahi. He also shared an office with Mr. Fhimah at Malta Airport. Giaka claims that Fhimah showed him ten kilos of TNT hidden in his desk at the airport. He testifies that it was brought to the airport office by Megrahi.

Giaki tells the court about rush tags which are used to get luggage on planes unaccompanied. He says he saw Megrahi and Fhimah at the baggage arrival at Malta Airport on the night before the crash. They took the suitcase toward customs and it was not opened for inspection. Richard Keen asks about the JSO being a merciless organization. He points out that Giaka asks the CIA for money multiple times to help him emigrate to America. His case officer wrote that they would only continue his $1,000 per month salary until the end of 1989. The CIA was going to cut his salary unless he could provide sustained and defined access to information of intelligence value. Keen suggests he was a waste of money unless he was going to do better. He points out that Giaka keeps looking at the Americans in the back row. Giaka admits he knows Brian Murtagh. Murray wonders who is pulling Giaka’s strings. Giaka confesses he came up with this information years after flight 103 came down.

Keen notices that the CIA called Giaka a shirker and a fantasist. Jim confronts Brian Murtagh in the bathroom. Jim says Giaka was paid for his evidence and he lied under oath so the case could end in a mistrial. Brian says it won’t be. Jim insists it should be. Brian admits those men might be small cogs in a big machine but they were part of it. Jim asks if that’s because their governments decided they were. News reports discuss the case. Jim tries to call Jane once again. He leaves a message and hangs up. On day 150 of the trial, John Bedford is set to testify. The prosecution believes Bedford loaded the unaccompanied suitcase from Malta. John Bedford (Anton Valensi) claims he saw two suitcases when he got back from his tea break. He says anyone who was airside could’ve put those suitcases there. The cases appeared before the Malta-Frankfurt flight arrived. John says one was brown and the other suitcase was darker.

They were hard-shelled and the same type as the Samsonite. Jim and Murray talk about his testimony later. Murray doesn’t think Bedford saw the actual suitcase since the Frankfurt flight hadn’t arrived yet. Jim suggests there was no bomb suitcase on the Frankfurt flight. Murray says that would destroy the entire basis of the trial. On day 171, John questions why the Crown is bringing in a German explosives expert. Murray says they want to debunk the defense’s theory that Palestinian terrorists were responsible. Rainer Gobel (Brian Caspe) is asked about examining explosives seized from the PFLP-GC. He says the German police initially thought a PFLP-GC device could’ve brought down flight 103, but they later said it couldn’t have. He claims the PFLP-GC uses air pressure sensitive equipment. He goes through the specifics and says a PFLP-GC device would’ve caused the plane to explode between 35 and 45 minutes into its first flight.

Flight 103 could only be brought down by this type of device if it had been primed or put on board at Heathrow. Jim says the plane left Heathrow at 18:25 and it exploded at 19:03. He tells Murray it must’ve been put onto the plane at Heathrow. Jim starts to believe it was an ice cube timer and it was in one of the suitcases Bedford mentioned. He tries to get the prosecution’s attention. Murray asks him to sit down. Back at his flat, Jim begins removing all evidence. Murray comes over and they go through the evidence together. When Jane visits, Jim admits he doesn’t believe they did it. He claims they’ve been framed and they’re innocent.

 

Lockerbie: A Search For Truth Review

As we get through the halfway point of Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, it’s becoming more clear that this is not executed well. The series has a truly fascinating story at the center, but the show really doesn’t cover that story well enough. The show struggles with its identity wavering between a factual drama and a personal drama.

Sadly, the series isn’t balanced well enough for either component to work satisfactorily. The entire trial component of Lockerbie has been very messy and it feels like viewers are being intentionally led in one direction instead of being given freedom to make up their own minds. The delivery here is very dry to the point that the characters are props and no tears will be shed regardless of the outcome.

Individuals not familiar with the entire story will struggle with Lockerbie and its chaotic delivery of facts. Those familiar with the story may be disappointed by how much has been left out. At the end of the day, it’s hard not to see this as anything but a massive missed opportunity.

The third episode was a tedious mess that feels like it’s just spinning its wheels. It scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Lockerbie: A Search for Truth can be found here. Learn more about supporting our independent site at this link. Find out how to advertise with us here. Join the discussion here.