Toshiba RT-SF 16 Radios and Libyan Guilt

Undated
last edit March 1 2011

It was forensically determined that the model of radio carrying the bomb that brought down PA103 was a Toshiba RT-SF16 BomBeat radio cassette player, a small black-cased unit with twin-speakers. The radio was identified, in an often bizarre process as it's recorded, by fragments of circuit board and melted case plastics found blasted into surrounding clothes and luggage. And it was confirmed by fragments from the paper user's manual, one a full sheet pronouncing the model plain as day, torn up badly by the thousands-degree Semtex supernova a few inches away (below, left).

That last find, called PK/689, is just too much. Decky Horton thought it had been completely intact when she turned it in, and said so under oath at Camp Zeist. It's been explained the damage to the sheet might have been from forensics testing, and the bomb, apparently, did just about nothing to it.

The science was said to find the manual was not folded at the time of blast, meaning it was outside its narrow box, perhaps way out amongst the clothes. That becomes a bit more plausible. But then why were other bits of the same manual blasted into the blue babygro thought to be wrapped directly around the bomb radio box? Of all the fishy clues that suggest planting, this fishy plant would surely grow the most fish if planted.

These clues appeared to me before the context. I was asking why it had to be the RT-SF16 that wound up in the rubble, to necessitate something so obviously foul? The answer I found is put forth by, for example, the esteemed Richard Marquise, onetime overseer of the FBI's investigation. In a "letter to" Lucy Adams, Marquise pointed out how the model of radio itself indicates Libyan guilt:

"It was a senior Libyan official who had ordered the majority of all the Toshiba radios similar to that which carried the bomb. This official also talked in 1986 about putting a bag on a British or American flight from Malta. Ask why?"

As for the talk of bombing planes, Mr. Marquise will be aware that was a dubious claim of desperate defector A.M. Giaka. The official referred to is Said Rashid, head of JSO operations section, who "asked" Giaka himself - a driver for the JSO - to write a report about bombing planes. It's clearly a rubbish claim, among those first offered on the FBI's boat in mid-1991 in order to win witness protection for him and his wife and impending baby. It was dismissed by the Zeist judges, along with Giaka in general, and virtually everything else he said.

As for Rashid's company's purchase of the radios in question, another unbiased expert, Lord Advocate (prosecution) for the Scottish Crown at trial, Lord Colin Boyd, said in remarks on 28 August 2001:

"As if in confirmation of Libya's involvement during the preparation for the trial evidence was obtained from Toshiba which showed that during October 1988 20,000 black Toshiba RT-SF 16 radio cassettes, the type used in the Pan Am bomb, were shipped to Libya. Of the total world-wide sales of that model 76% were sold to General Electric Company of Libya whose chairman was Said Rashid.

Accordingly, its clear that the move of interest by investigators away from the PFLPGC and towards Libya was as a result of the evidence which was discovered and not as a result of any political interference in the investigation."

October 1988, just two month before the bombing, they made sure to conspicuously corner the market on the exact radio they'd turn into a bomb. Not wise, unless you're framing yourself. Some confirmation of the Libyan BomBeat connection did come from the trial:

"Two employees of Toshiba confirmed in their evidence that their company had supplied 20,000 Toshiba RT SF 16 Bombeat radio cassette recorders to Libya in October 1988. It is alleged that the bomb was contained within such a cassette recorder." LTBU daily report, 26 July 2000

Well that certainly depends on how pure the evidence itself was to begin with. But if we accept this claim, there would seem to be a rough correlation - all things being equal - that if you find a SF-16, it's about 76% likely to be JSO-owned, at least until it was stolen from them. That still leaves a 24% rate of non-JSO probability, and of course all things are not equal.

So the allegation per Lord Boyd is that the Libyans first branded this one radio model - and its amazingly durable manuals - as JSO material. And then they made one of those, of all the models on Earth they could have chosen, into a bomb for such a major operation. And they'd do this using a highly-identifiable and exclusive timer set so it would blow up over land and leave the clues to find. Including the conspicuously purchased Maltese clothing tied right to Megrahi. Packed in the case the Giaka "saw" Megrahi holding the day before the bombing. Sent through three airports unaccompanied but without a single trace at the one airport of them that had excellent security and delivered all their evidence.

It's an insane plot, and standard fare for this investigation. Another stupid move by the villains or, depending on your point of view, another sign of frame-up, with no opportunity to lost to emphasize the direction. Libyan-exclusive everything. I don't think that's normally how terrorists work when they're writing their own script.

Primary Evidence: Toshiba Owner's Manual

(incomplete)
last update 23 October

Dedicated posts: 
Toshiba RT-SF 16 Radios and Libyan Guilt - why this is a clue at all
Timeline: Toshiba Radio Identification - Just try to make sense of this detailed chronology
Decky Horton and Her Find Details on that unusual evidence PK/689 (see below) and the possibility it is  other than what was  found after the crash.

Debris in Detail
Following are direct quotes, with minimal notes, from the trial transcripts. Testimony of Dr. Thomas Hayes and Mr. Allan Feraday, variously questioned by prosecution and defense. Primarily they are reading from their examination notes.

Overview of manual fragments from Feraday’s final report, read out:

"Many fragments originating from the owner's manual of a Toshiba RT-SF16 radio/cassette recorder have been recovered. These fragments, which are detailed below, are damaged consistent with their close involvement in a powerful explosion. They have been identified by a detailed comparison with the control sample of the owner's manual PT/1 (PR/111) which was removed from the box containing the sample Toshiba RT-SF16 radio/cassette recorder (PR/105). The original positions of the fragments upon each page clearly indicate that the manual was not folded at the moment of explosion, apart from at its original stapled centre fold." [transcripts, day 20, pp 3093-3094]

"These sheets appeared to have been violently impacted and disrupted and bore localised areas of blackening and scorching consistent with their close explosives involvement." [p 3098]

Control: PT/1 (PR/1111): Feraday's report, read out:

This consists of the owner's manual extracted from the Toshiba RT-SF16 radio/cassette recorder marked as item PR/105 (above). This manual, shown in photograph 236, was originally included with the radio inside its packing box and was extracted for investigational reasons and given the productions number PT/1."
[...] "The item was later renumbered by the Lockerbie police as Production No. PR/111."
[...] "The manual consists of a white paper booklet measuring 26 centimetres by 19 centimetres and incorporating three complete sheets of paper which are folded and stapled together in the centre to produce a booklet of twelve sides of paper. This booklet contains user instructions and diagrams in several different languages. The front cover of the booklet bears the title `Owner's Manual, Toshiba stereo radio/cassette recorder, RT-SF16 BomBeat SF16.' The manual was originally contained, together with the black mains lead, within a polythene bag inside the proprietary packing box of item PR/105." [day 20, p 3079]

Ferraday's science guy, Dr. Thomas Hayes, carried out what little actual forensics work was done. He testified, under questioning by Mr. Keen for the defense on day 17, about some of the manual fragments he studied. [pp 2687 and onward]

- PK/689: Recieved RARDE 11 May, examined by Dr. Hayes 16 May by examination notes.

"When originally received at this laboratory, this item was apparently an irregularly shaped single fragment of paper, shown in photograph 266, which measured approximately 135 millimetres by 125 millimetres. Detailed examination revealed the fragment to consist of two overlaid sheets lightly adhering together, having the same irregular shape.

On the upper surface of the two sheets, shown in photograph 267, were depicted (a) the legend "... Hiba ... O cassette recorder ... SF16 ... BomBeat SF16" and (b) apparent sets of operating instructions printed in several languages." [p 3079]
""... the two-page fragment of paper appears to have survived a close-range explosion involvement." [p 2544]

Above: PK/689 (bottom) compared to control model PT/1. RARDE photo, undated...
[alternate image source: Conspiracy Files, 38:41]

"Q What it is saying there is that this item was received at RARDE on 11/5/89, and then passed to a DC Jordan on the same date for non-destructive fingerprints, and then returned to RARDE on 16th May, passed to DC Jordan on 16th May for chemical treatment after photography –
A [Hayes] It does say all of that, yes, sir.
Q And would that chemical treatment, rather than chemical analysis, be a means of preserving the piece of paper? Perhaps I should simply ask, Dr. Hayes, do you know what is meant there by "chemical treatment"?
A I'm guessing, so I really can't answer your question, I'm afraid.
Q But it is in your hand?
A Oh, yes. Yes, I wrote it." [p 2687]

On its discovery by Decky Horton and her Zeist testimony. It was completely intact when she turned it in. See also "Conspiracy Files" link above.

Another possible inconsistency from On the Trail of Terror (1991) by David Leppard:

"Incredibly, none of the search teams had noticed a partly burnt Toshiba radio instruction manual for a Bombeat SF 16 which had been recovered from the crash site. It was to be left lying in Superintendent Roxburgh's property store at the Dexstar warehouse for months. [...] Details had been logged on to the HOLMES computer, but were left forgotten, buried in a mass of data until August." [p 81]

Leppard is known to make both frequent mistakes and, on occasion, obliquely ingenious observations. Considering Hayes' record of examinations in May, the claim that PK/689 was at Dexstar until is August could be interesting. Proper paperwork suggests a third date yet between the two for reciept of an item that could only be PK/689:

"Q [Keen] If we look at page 107, halfway down, we see that what the report tells us is that "on 30th June 1989 some explosively damaged paper fragments which bore indications that they originated from the owner's instruction manual for a Toshiba were received at this laboratory, thus conclusively establishing which of the seven models of the Toshiba had been employed in the Lockerbie bomb. 

[…] 

Q But we know that all of the dates predate the 30th of June. We've just looked at them, Dr. Hayes. 

A [Hayes] In which case we might reasonably assume that the date listed in this report is in error.

[…] 

Q Well, there appear to be two alternatives, do there not, Dr. Hayes? One, page 107 of the report is referring to different fragments to those which you found during your forensic examination.

[…]

Q The alternative is that the -- this part of the report is simply completely erroneous in ascribing to the 30th of June the receipt of any fragments of the Toshiba owner's manual?

A It could be the date is in error, yes, sir." [p 2692-2697]

- PT/2: 12 May
For what it's worth, the exam notes show other remains of the manual appearing in the following days of May. But the next one is featured on the famous page 51, and that page seems clearly to have been inserted after the fact. By the scan of that page we can see this item was originally and more logically dubbed PT/35(d). Why it was changed is unclear, but it makes two totally different classes of evidence - a control sample and a surprise find from afield - end up numbered PT/1 and PT/2. It works as a nickname, and seems to have no relevance of its own, but the oddity is noteworthy. Perhaps that's a clue to the unusual re-classification of the manual, eventually changed to PR/1111.

"PT/2, fragments of white paper with writing in various languages. "This fragment was recovered from item PI/995 (a fragment of grey-coloured `Slalom' brand shirt (section 5.1.3)), together with other fragments identified as being of particular explosives significance.

"Photograph 273 shows what originally appeared to be a single fragment of paper (encircled) after its extraction from item PI/995. Detailed examination showed that the fragment consisted of five overlaid sheets of paper lightly adhering together. The five sheets appeared to have been violently impacted together and disrupted and bore localised areas of blackening and scorching consistent with their close explosives involvement." [3098-99]

The above image superimposes Hayes' famous page 51 notes for PT/2 before being separated. It's a match for size and shape with the lump in the photo. However accurate the lab entry's date, the photo was apparently taken before the lump was spread out into numerous sheets of type matching the manual in control sample PT/1 perfectly.

- PT/34: 16 May - “includes … pieces of paper … later thought to be parts of a Toshiba owner's manual” Same day the examination of PK/689 is recorded by Hayes. (I chose its earliest noted received date so it could start us off with a bang)

- ???: 18 May? "One small fragment of white paper bearing black printing" found in "the same blue and white Slalom shirt" PH/999 from which PT/40(b) was pulled. [day 20 p 3116] This would presumably be PT/40(something), and I don't have the time to figure out why I didn't figure this one out before.

- PT/56: 22 May

Feraday: "This consists of two very small blackened fragments of paper bearing a black printed legend. The fragments were recovered from a small fragment of the blue Babygro (item PI/1421, Section 5.1.8) and were identified as most probably having originated from the owner's manual for the Toshiba RT-SF16 radio." [day 20 p 3110]

- PT/31: 1 June 1989

"These ten small fragments of paper were separated from a fragment of the blue Babygro (item PK/2209, Section 5.1.8) along with other fragments of explosives significance, as shown in photograph 281. The ten fragments of paper are all approximately 2 millimetres square and appear to have been violently impacted and disrupted, bearing localised areas of blackening and scorching consistent with their close explosives involvement." [day 20 p 3105-06]

Three of these bore printing that, ittle surprise, also matched control sample PT/1 (PR/1111). Bits of the polythene bag were also found stuck to some of these fragments.

Zeist Judges on the Toshiba manual
forthcoming (volunteers? Opinion of the Court will do - check for reference to the cover PK/689.)

Decky Horton and Her Find

Posted June 17 2010
last edit July 14

This post will gather the evidence of Gwendoline "Decky" Horton regarding her find of a piece of paper, alleged to have been evidence PK/689 (below, compared to a control sample, PT/1). This was alleged to be the cover off the manual for the bomb radio, which had obviously been near a powerful Semtex explosion, since it's - ripped up a bit. The clearly readable model name identified the model used for the bomb (??) as one sold primarily to a Libyan company.

Mrs. Horton and her husband Robert Geoffrey Horton (or Jeff) had been credited as turning the miracle find in to police in Late December, from their farm near the North Sea. The main controversy about this surfaced at trial in 2000 where Decky but not Jeff testified.

Trial testimony

Camp Zeist, day 6 May 10 2000

Witness number 334, Gwendoline Horton

Transcripts pp 962-966

In her remarkably brief questioning, she re-told of finding "what we thought was just debris, possibly from a passing car or something," on the morning after the crash. Soon they heard there was debris everywhere, and a neighbor told them "she understood it was from the plane that had crashed, and that all the local farmers were collecting it in the fields." So Jeff and Decky headed out to gather what they could in case it had any value. From there her testimony runs:

Q And did you hand material in to the police on that day?
A I can't remember if it was that day or the following day.
Q How many times did you hand material in to the police?
A Twice.
 Q And how did you carry this stuff once you'd gathered it?
A Just in a carrier bag, I think, at the time.

Q I would like to ask you about one item in particular. Do you remember coming upon a document of some sort that made reference to a radio cassette player?
A Yes, I do.
Q Can you describe what that item was like?
A Well, from what I remember, it was possibly about -- I know I'm supposed to say it. * About that kind of size, you know, about possibly eight by eight, or something like that, inches.

* This apparently refers to the usual instruction to speak out sizes, directions, etc. rather than gesturing.

Q Could you see writing on it?
A I could see writing, because I remarked to my husband, "This appears to be from a cassette player," or something like that. I do remember it was something electrical.
Q And did you hand that item in to the police?
A Yes, that went into the bag as well.

Q Right. I wonder if you would look, please, at Label 24. You'll see there is a bag which contains items there. Do you recognise anything?
A Well, not in its present state. I'm sure when I handed it in, it was in one piece.
Q Yes.
A Yes.

Q Perhaps -- I wonder if it could be put on the document imager, to see if we can see it. You can see within the police plastic bag, I think as you've described, more than one piece of a document.
And you can at least see writing on it?
A Yes.
Q Do I understand you to say that when you handed it in, it was in one piece?
A It was in one piece, sir. I am practically sure of that, yes.
Q But apart from that, you recognise the item?
A Yes. Uh-huh.

Q Whereabouts did you find that item?
A In the fields -- we are a private house on the roadside. In the field opposite, they are known as the glebe fields, and it was in the bottom glebe field, down beside the burn, down in the bottom. In the dean.
Q Thank you very much.
[...]
LORD SUTHERLAND: Thank you, Mrs. Horton. You are free to go. Thank you for coming.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.

2008 Media interest
Following the 2007 SCCRC findings that Megrahi deserved a second appeal, and coming on the 20 year anniversary of the attack, 2008 brought attention to the whole case including the Hortons. The trial controversy had the crew of BBC Conspiracy Files visit the farm and get Decky's story on camera.
BBC Conspiracy Files, 2008:
http://lockerbiedivide.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-conspiracy-files-lockerbie.html (Starting around 37:30)

"I was taken into court by the usher, and I had to swear the oath. And then I was shown a plastic bag with this ... piece ... of paper in it. But at the time I was asked is this what I had found. And I said well when I found it, it was in one piece. But in the bag there were several pieces, and the name Toshiba was only just discernable by then."
[...]
"When I found the piece of paper it was more or less intact - a bit tatty around the edges but it definitely had Toshiba written across And it was in one piece, where this is in several pieces."
Narrator: "The police say the evidence had become degraded because it had undergone hundreds of forensic tests."

> Contemporaneous article, The Sunday Sun (UK)

Geoff and Decky Horton found a key piece of evidence after wreckage was strewn over their farm, located 60 miles from the crash site. But the piece of paper — believed to be from the package which contained the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 — was damaged after it was handed over to investigators.
[...]
Police said the paper was damaged following a battery of forensic tests.
But the documentary says: “Why was the piece of paper so altered from when the Hortons found it? Was it proof of a conspiracy or careless handling by the police? The mystery remains.”
Conspiracy theorists believe key evidence was tampered with to implicate Libya in the bomb plot.

http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2008/08/31/lockerbie-evidence-called-into-question-79310-21640187/

...

Analysis:
Mrs. Horton didn't independently recall any specific wording, including Toshiba, at trial. All she said before being shown the item was "I remarked to my husband, "This appears to be from a cassette player," or something like that. I do remember it was something electrical." In 2008 she claims to have remembered it saying "Toshiba" in its entirety. This could be a false memory. Nonetheless, I suspect it did say Toshiba. The reason being, this fragment appears to be a plant, one designed to exploit an actual memory.If the fragment had said something else, like Panasonic, she might remember that and cry foul when it later said Toshiba. That would be risky. I doubt she would or should recall the tedious model number, be it RT-SF16 or otherwise. The "BomBeat" or lack it might stand out, but it doesn't seem to have.

I also challenge Mrs.Horton's "several pieces" categorization. It can appear that way, but it's described in eaminations, and is, a single sheet of paper, nearly torn through in spots. THE BBC's coverage of this tricked me at first - the question is whether investigators tore up the paper Decky found on purpose. The real question is whether this was the piece she found at all. If so, it was nowhere near the bomb, and then what a coincidence it's for this model, sold primarily in Libya.

Again, it was allegedly torn through from being inches from an explosion that ruptured a plane's hull at over two feet. Or rather, if one trusts both RARDE and Mrs. Horton, one needs to accept that the manual cover (and no other page) was made "a bit tatty around the edges" by that blast, and torn to nearly to shreds by later forensic testing.

These tests were discussed at the Zeist trial. PK/689 was listed as first received at RARDE on both May 11 and June 30 1989. [link] Dr. Hayes' notes said (paraphrased) "this item was received at RARDE on 11/5/89, and then passed to a DC Jordan on the same date for non-destructive fingerprints, and then returned to RARDE on 16th May, passed to DC Jordan on 16th May for chemical treatment after photography." Jordan, by Hayes' recollection, was with either the Metropolitan police or Scotland Yard. [Zeist trial, day 18]

That's all I can find, and no mention of explosives residue testing. It hardly seems worth the hassle, of course, being so clear on the face of it. In fact, I'm half surprised they didn't claim Megrahi's prints from this find.
...