Accused Pan Am Flight 103 bomber brought to US, but Shrewsbury mom says it won't help her heal
SHREWSBURY - The Libyan intelligence official accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 more than 30 years ago is now in U.S. custody.
Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud will be arraigned Monday afternoon in federal court in Washington. He is now expected to stand trial in the U.S. for bombing that jetliner and killing all 259 people on board, plus 11 on the ground, in Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988.
It is the most deadly terrorist attack ever on British soil. It still haunts Jeannine Boulanger in Shrewsbury.
"For me, it's my first thought in the morning and it's my last thought at night," Boulanger said.
It's been 34 years since she lost her daughter Nicole on Pan Am Flight 103. When Boulanger heard the man suspected of making the bomb was in U.S. custody, she was shocked by the news.
"It's very important that the people who perpetrate these crimes are brought to justice," Boulanger told WBZ-TV.
Boulanger says her daughter was only 21 years old. She was on the Dean's List at Syracuse University and had a love for the performing arts and was an exceptional artist.
"I carry her with me, and I frequently think of the other families that I had the opportunity to meet. There were 35 Syracuse students on that plane - what they referred to as the best and the brightest," Boulanger said.
She says the capture of Mas'ud is a good thing, but for her, this does not bring any closure.
"I kept thinking of was all of these victims died alone - on the hills of Scotland," she said. "My daughter's body was not recovered. So, there is a headstone with the 11 people whose bodies were not recovered."
Boulanger says she will watch this case closely, but for her, it won't help with any of the healing. "My daughter's life had great meaning and justice won't come in this life. I hope it will come in another life," she said.
