Judge Awards Family of U.S. Kidnapping Victim $355 Million Against Iran

On September 21, 2000, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order awarding $333 million in damages against the Iran Government in favor of the family of Marine Lt. Colonel William R. Higgins, who was kidnapped and killed in 1989 when he was on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. U.S. District Colleen Kollar-Kotelly made the award in a lawsuit filed by Robin L. Higgins, the former spouse of the deceased and a retired marine lieutenant colonel. She argued that terrorists supported by Iran were responsible for the kidnapping, torture and death of her husband.