Page 247 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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McVeigh, Timothy (1968–2001)———225

bomb-making materials, including ammonium nitrate using the name Timothy McVeigh, had rented a room
fertilizer and race car fuel, and stored them in lockers and parked both a Ryder truck and a yellow Grand
rented under various aliases. McVeigh and Nichols also Marquis.
robbed a gun collector, Roger Moore, of guns, gold,
silver, and jewels to fund their conspiracy. In December INDICTMENT, TRIAL, AND SENTENCE
1994, McVeigh drove Michael Fortier, another former
Army friend, past the Murrah building, explaining his When the three indictments came down in August
plans as well as his getaway route. 1995, Fortier, who could have been indicted on con-
In early 1995, McVeigh and Nichols traveled to spiracy charges, pleaded guilty to lesser charges,
Kingman, Arizona, where Fortier lived with his wife, including charges that he knew and concealed
Lori. Lori Fortier later testified that McVeigh showed McVeigh’s plan, as well as possession and transporta-
her how he planned to position the explosives, demon- tion of illegal firearms, in exchange for his testimony
strating with cans of soup. She also helped make against McVeigh and Nichols. Both McVeigh and
McVeigh a fake driver’s license under the name of Nichols faced eight counts of first-degree murder for
the federal officials killed in the blast, as well as one
Robert Kling. Within months, McVeigh would act on his
count each for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass
plan—he would drive a rented truck filled with more
destruction, the use of a weapon of mass destruction,
than 4,000 pounds of explosives to the Murrah building
and destruction by explosive.
on a workday morning, park, and calmly walk away.
Opening statements began on April 24, 1997, after
several pretrial decisions by the court, including mov-
THE INVESTIGATION
ing the case to Denver; trying McVeigh and Nichols
McVeigh was arrested 80 minutes after the truck bomb separately; and allowing for the death penalty. Over
exploded at the Murrah building. Oklahoma state the next few weeks, the prosecution called more than
trooper Charlie Hanger stopped a yellow 1977 Mercury 130 witnesses, including McVeigh’s sister, Jennifer,
Grand Marquis driving north on Interstate 35. At and the Fortiers, who provided some of the most
first, it seemed to be a routine traffic stop—the Marquis damning evidence. (Jennifer McVeigh and Lori Fortier
had no license plates. The driver, McVeigh, emerged were both given immunity in exchange for their testi-
from the car; when Hanger asked to see his license, he mony.) Although no one could place McVeigh at the
noticed a gun bulging from inside the driver’s wind- Murrah building, substantial evidence, including
breaker. Hangar confiscated the gun, a 9mm Glock, and explosive residue found on his clothes, confirmed his
handcuffed McVeigh before taking him to the Noble involvement.
County jail in Perry, Oklahoma. McVeigh was booked The defense, in turn, tried to discredit the
on four misdemeanor charges: unlawfully carrying a prosecution’s main witnesses, focusing on Michael
weapon, transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehi- Fortier, who had previously lied to federal authorities
cle, failing to display a current license plate, and failing and the press about his knowledge of the bombing.
to maintain proof of insurance. The address on The defense did reveal several weaknesses in the
McVeigh’s driver’s license was the Decker, Michigan, prosecution—no fingerprints were found on the Ryder
family farm of Terry Lynn Nichols. truck rental agreement or on the truck’s key (found
As McVeigh waited in jail for his bail hearing, fed- in an alley in Oklahoma City), and no explosive
eral investigators pieced together the evidence that residue was found in the lockers allegedly used for
would eventually lead to McVeigh’s arrest on federal storage. Other gaps included an unidentified severed
charges. Hours before McVeigh might have been leg discovered in the rubble and the persistent phan-
released from jail on $500 bail, he was arrested by tom of a John Doe No. 2; these led to extensive con-
the FBI. spiracy theories, including improbable suggestions
Investigators at the scene linked mangled pieces of that the government orchestrated the bombing to
the rented Ryder truck used for the bomb to a rental discredit the militia movements growing throughout
company in Junction City, Kansas. From employee the country.
descriptions emerged the sketches of John Doe No. 1, On June 2, 1997, after four days of deliberation, the
who used the alias “Robert Kling” to rent the truck, jury found McVeigh guilty on all 11 counts. Eleven
and John Doe No. 2. The manager of a nearby motel days later, the same jury condemned McVeigh to
confirmed that a man resembling John Doe No. 1, but death by lethal injection. U.S. district judge Richard