"This is not fair to the families," said Stan Maslowski, whose 30-year-old daughter Diane was returning from London for Christmas when Flight 103 went down on Dec. 21, 1988. "This shows a terrorist can get away with murder."
Maslowski and his wife, Norma, turned on the TV at their Haddonfield home to watch the developments with Abdel Baset al-Megrahi. "You get that lump in your throat and you feel like you're going to throw up," Norma Maslowski said.
Al-Megrahi was released yesterday after serving eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence in Scottish prison. Scottish officials said the former Libyan intelligence officer has advanced prostate cancer and was given only months to live. They said they were bound by Scottish values to release him.
"It's appalling, disgusting and so sickening I can hardly find words to describe it," said Susan Cohen of New Jersey, whose 20-year-old daughter Theodora died in the attack. "Lockerbie looks like it never happened now - there isn't anybody in prison for it."
The bombing turned the families of some of the 270 victims into activists who became deeply versed in terrorism policy, international relations, airline security and victim compensation.
The families, which organised as Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, have evolved from communicating through phone trees to keeping in touch through Facebook.
From the beginning, many were bitter that neither the United States nor other nations spoke out more strongly about the attack, although the White House on Thursday said Scotland should not have released him.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the United States had repeatedly asked Scotland to keep al-Megrahi in custody. "On this day, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live every day with the loss of their loved ones," Gibbs said.
Cohen and other relatives said they believe al-Megrahi was released to appease Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi because access to his nation's oil is so important.
The Times of London reported that al-Megrahi was to return to Libya in Gadhafi's jet - also seen by the victims' families as an affront.
"As I'm watching him now (on television) getting ready to board a plane and go home to a parade, I'm getting angry," said Joanne Hartunian, who lost her daughter Lynne, a student at the State University of New York at Oswego.
"And I didn't want to get angry. I didn't want to waste any more time thinking about this man." Loulie Canady, whose 25-year-old daughter Valerie was taking Flight 103 home to get married, also watched on television as the convict departed Glasgow. "I'm just sick at heart," she said.
The release is likely the end of the legal saga.
"Twenty years later, this is the last sad chapter where government leaders have no moral backbone," said Bert Ammerman, whose brother Tom was killed on the flight.
Still, the victims group intends to go on. They planned a conference call Friday to discuss what to do next, and expect to join protests next month when Gadhafi is scheduled to visit New York, said Bob Monetti, whose brother was on the flight.
Peter Sullivan, a college roommate of victim Mike Doyle, said the criminal case does not have to end.
"I would like to see the United States expeditiously indict al-Megrahi and seek his extradition for trial in the US for the murder of 189 innocent Americans," said Sullivan.
But not all the relatives thought the release was wrong.
"This is just one little thing that says this is not going to hurt any of us for him to be released and go die with his family," said Caroline Stevens, whose son Sandy Phillips died in the bombing. "We've got to look at one another in a more compassionate way and not rely on war and revenge and all that."
Ann Rogers said she had not been aware that al-Megrahi was close to getting his freedom. Her 21-year-old daughter died in the bombing.
"We haven't thought about him in a long time," said Rogers. "Whatever happens to him, the bottom line is Luann's still gone."
