A grand jury's questioning of a polygraph expert who is helping investigate the bombing of Pan AM Flight 103 indicates the Justice Department's probe is entering a new phase. A federal grand jury in Washington heard testimony last Friday from James Keefe, a polygraph expert for a security consulting firm hired by lawyers representing Pan Am in a civil suit over the Dec. 21, 1988 bombing. Keefe testified about giving polygraph tests to three Pan Am baggage handlers in Frankfurt, West Germany, during his appearance before the grand jury, said a source familiar with the case. Keefe told the panel two of the three baggage handlers failed the polygraph tests when they said they knew nothing about the transfer of a piece of luggage to Flight 103, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The source confirmed a report published in Tuesday's editions of the Syracuse Post Standard. Keefe's appearance before the grand jury indicates U.S. authorities are stepping up their investigation of the bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 259 passengers and crew members and 11 people on the ground. Anti-terrorism laws give federal prosecutors in Washington jurisdiction to bring cases in acts that occur abroad. Scottish police believe the bomb was in a suitcase that was placed aboard Pan Am Flight 103 in Frankfurt before it took off for London. Passengers and luggage were transferred to a Boeing 747 at London's Heathrow Airport for the trans-Atlantic leg of the trip to New York City. The suitcase is believed to have been brought to Frankfurt aboard a plane from Malta. Investigators found clothing fragments in Lockerbie that were traced to a clothing store in Malta, according to a federal law enforcement source. The bombing investigation has focused on a number of terrorist organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Polygraph tests cannot be admitted in court, but the questions Keefe asked the baggage handlers and their responses may provide investigators with new leads in the case. Keefe works for Interfor Inc., a New York-based security consulting firm retained by lawyers representing Pan Am's insurance carrier in a $300 million damage suit filed by relatives of people killed in the bombing. He was served with the grand jury subpoena on Jan. 25 as he stepped off a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York following his return from Europe, said the source.
An employee of the security consulting firm hired by lawyers representing Pan American 's insurance carriers gave the tests to three Pan American baggage handlers in Frankfurt , Germany . Families of the victims killed in the 1988 bombing of a Pan American flight over Germany have a 300 million dollar law suit against Pan American . Polygraph results are not admissible in court , but polygraph results can be used to provide new leads in the investigation . The man who administered the polygraph test in Germany was served a subpoena on his return to the United States , and testified before a federal grand jury last week .