22 June 1990
According to the HOLMES statements of Williamson (S872BS), Henderson (S4710J)
and CI John McLean (S5320I) the three of them accompanied Allen Feraday to the
Washington office of the FBI on this date, where Thurman showed them a series of
photos of a timing device. All the HOLMES statements record this timer had a
fibreglass circuit board identical in colour to the fragment and that part of the circuit
pattern appeared identical. They record that later the same day they went to the
Explosives lab in the FBI HQ and the officers were present when Feraday carried out
an examination and comparison of the timing device K-1 (DP/84). Williamson and
Henderson’s statements record that Feraday had photographs taken of the two items
together. All three statements record that the officers each viewed the two items and
noted the construction of the K-1 timer, including the designation MST-13 on the
green board and a smaller white circuit board that had a mark or logo with the letters
MEBQ or MEBO, which were still discernible despite evidence of an attempt to erase
them. McLean and Williamson’s statements record that McLean noted the letters of
this mark/logo in a notepad he was carrying (said not to be a production). Williamson
and Henderson’s statements record that they learnt the timer had been recovered by a
US agency in Togo in 1986. Further details of this are contained in chapter 8 of the
statement of reasons.
Main board of the MST13
Williamson was asked about the trip to Washington in evidence. He confirmed that
label prod 420 was the timer Thurman had shown them. He was referred to image 62
in prod 282 (photos of the timer taken in Togo) which depicted the white circuit board
and he said that at a particular mark on the board he saw what he thought was
“MEBQ [these letters are not at all obvious in the photo shown in evidence, but
Williamson confirmed that he was able to see them at the time with the naked eye].
As regards Williamson, his memo of 3 September 1990 to the SIO summarises all the
investigations on the timer to that date. It refers to the trip to the FBI Explosives Lab
in Washington on 22 June 1990, and to being shown by Thurman a timing device. It
states that Feraday was sufficiently satisfied that the circuitry matched the fragment,
but to be conclusive the timing device and the fragment would require to be further
examined under his own lab conditions at RARDE. The memo then has a description
of the K-1 timer and the various components, including an account of the manufacture
of these components (presumably this information was obtained through
investigations conducted between 22 June and 3 September 1990). There is no
reference to the MEBO/MEBQ mark, all that is said of the white circuit board is that
it appears to be additional to the original manufacture of the timing device and is
subject of further investigation.
In his ch10 CP Feraday recalled going to Washington and identified the date as 22
June 90 from his report. He recalled Henderson and McLean being there but not
Williamson. He described Thurman “sweating off’ the wire attached to the relay pad
to allow an accurate comparison. He also described there being an argument over
who should handle what – the Americans wanted the fragment, the Brits wanted the
timer. Feraday insisted on photos being taken there and then; he took 4 Polaroids
away and later got 8 Kodak photos from Thurman which Thurman had taken in
– Feraday’s presence -prod 1756 (DC11803 they include all 12 of the photos taken).
Feraday then said that he recalled noticing the mark on the secondary circuit which read MEBQ, as he thought at the time. He said “At that stage, the writing meant nothing to me.”
The precognoscer’s note records that this contrasts sharply with Williamson’s
recollection that Feraday had said he knew the company involved. In both
Williamson’s precognitions he is recorded as saying Feraday indicated that he
recognised the name, and in the first precognition he thought Feraday went off to try
and find the reference when they returned from Washington. See the accounts of both
witnesses to the Commission for their respective positions on this issue (see appendix
of Commission interviews).
See also entry under 15 July 1991 below and chapter 8 of the statement of reasons re
the suggestion that at this meeting on 22 June 1990 Thurman was already aware of
MEBO.
As at 22 June 1990, the connection was confirmed between the fragment and the
MST-13 timer recovered from Togo. Therefore, investigations turn to identifying the
manufacturer of the Togo timer. See chapter 8 of the statement of reasons re the
delay of over 2 months until the link to MEBO was established.
PT35B 