Heartbroken relatives of victims killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing said Wednesday they still plan to come face-to-face with one of the alleged terrorists behind the attack — even as his trial was suddenly delayed due to new evidence.
asserted
trial → kill → evidence
Some family members had hoped to “stare down” Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi — who’s charged with making the bomb that killed 259 people aboard Pan Am flight 103 and 11 people on the ground — as jury selection was set to begin Wednesday in Washington, DC, relatives told The Post.
asserted
relatives → hop → Post
But justice was put on hold after mysterious new evidence emerged, leaving loved ones with an unfinished chapter in the tragic, 37-year-old case.
asserted
evidence → put → case
“There are some family members that will stare at him — it brings them peace to stare him down,” said Kara Weipz, whose brother, Rick Monetti, was killed in the historic attack.
asserted
brother → be → attack
“I don’t care to look at him.”
asserted
I → care → him
Monetti, a junior communications major, was among 35 Syracuse University students killed on the flight from London to New York City on Dec. 21, 1988.
asserted
Monetti → kill → Dec.
Weipz —who had to cancel travel plans after the trial was delayed Monday — said Al-Marimi has previously come off disturbingly aloof at pre-trial hearings.
asserted
Marimi → have → hearings
“He seems very calculating, in my opinion,” Weipz said.
asserted
Weipz → seem → opinion
“It’s tough, it’s difficult being in the courtroom with him.”
asserted
it → ’ → him
“My purpose for going is to represent my family and learn more about the truth,” said Weipz, a New Jersey-based preschool teacher.
asserted
Weipz → go → truth
She called the delay the latest holdup in the long-simmering case.
asserted
She → call → case
“It’s a constant anxiety,” she said of her brother’s death and the ensuing legal battles — which included one conviction in 2001.
asserted
which → ’ → 2001
“It dredges it all up.
asserted
It → dredge → it
You go through a roller coaster of emotions,” she said.
asserted
she → go → emotions
Prosecutors have alleged that Al-Marimi — a former Libyan intelligence agent now in his mid-70s —flew to Malta with a suitcase bomb to meet his co-conspirators, who instructed him to set a timer on the device ahead of the attack.
asserted
who → allege → attack
Al-Marimi and others allegedly carried out the bombing at the direction of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was ousted and killed during a 2011 civil war.
uncertain
who → carry → war
Weipz hopes the latest trial will answer more questions about what happened to her brother and why.
asserted
what → hop → brother
“[I want] a guilty verdict and to hold another person who played a part in his murder accountable,” she said.
asserted
she → want → murder
“There’s no such thing as closure,” she said.
asserted
she → ’ → closure
“This pain doesn’t go away …
asserted
pain → go → ?
The question is can you find more peace?”
asserted
you → find → peace
The historic bombing killed a total of 270 victims, including 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie and 190 Americans.
asserted
bombing → kill → Lockerbie
It remains the second deadliest terror attack against Americans after 9/11, and the deadliest ever in the United Kingdom.
asserted
It → remain → Kingdom
Aphrodite Tsairis’s 20-year-old daughter, Alexia, was also a Syracuse University student returning from an abroad program when she was killed by the bomb.
asserted
she → return → bomb
“We were left with holes in our hearts,” said Tsairis, 83, of New Jersey.
asserted
Tsairis → leave → Jersey
Al-Marimi is one of three suspects ever charged in connection with the massacre.
asserted
Marimi → charge → massacre
In 2001, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah were tried for their roles in the bombing by a panel of Scottish judges sitting in the Netherlands.
asserted
Megrahi → try → Netherlands
The former was convicted, the latter was acquitted.
asserted
latter → convict → ?
In a bizarre twist, Fhimah’s death was announced Tuesday by Libyan Airlines, according to the BBC.
uncertain
death → announce → BBC
Tsairis called the timing of his death potentially telling, and speculated that it could be linked to the new evidence that delayed the trial.
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uncertain
Report → call → news
“I’m wondering if there’s a connection,” she said.
asserted
she → wonder → ?
“Maybe he had a change of conscience before his death.
asserted
he → have → death
Maybe he left a note.”
asserted
he → leave → note
Tsairis had planned to take a train to the trial before it was delayed, likely until January.
asserted
it → plan → January
“I’d like to see a conviction — but what I really want I can never have back,” she said of losing her daughter.
“My hope is that the trial is going to answer more of the ‘who and why.’
asserted
trial → like → who
It puts a period at the end of the sentence,” she said.
asserted
she → put → sentence
“I think the world has to know the American justice system will follow you wherever you go.”
asserted
you → think → you
Al-Marimi now faces life in prison.
asserted
Marimi → face → prison
Kara Weipz's brother Rick Monetti was killed in the 1988 bombing and crash of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie.
asserted
brother → kill → Lockerbie
Rick Monetti, who was killed in the Lockerbie bombing of 1988 on Pan Am flight 103.
asserted
who → kill → flight
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
