Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504210125
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUN
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
As usual, federal detectives were tight-lipped and wouldn't reveal the details of just how they did it.
But using the remains of the truck, the FBI was led to a rental agency where two white men using aliases rented the vehicle Monday. The same truck carried the bomb that destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City two days later, authorities said.
Once investigators backtracked to the rental agency, they were able to piece together a description of the two men for police composite sketches: both of medium, hefty build; one with a light brown crewcut, one with a tattoo on his left arm.
Thursday's developments were just the beginning of a painstaking process, which combined with lots of hard work and a little luck could lead to solving the most devastating act of terrorism in U.S. history.
Methodical detective work has paid off in past cases, such as the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. The starting point of the Oklahoma investigation is the giant crater left behind by the bomb.
Despite the devastation, criminologists say the crime scene holds clues that could form links in a chain of physical evidence tying suspects to the attack.
For example, fragments of the truck - possibly bearing a vehicle identification number - have already been used to get a lead on a pair of suspects.
Terrorist bombers ``are not magical,'' said Walter Rowe, a professor of forensic sciences at George Washington University in Washington. ``It would be one thing if they could blow up the entire scene and leave it completely atomized. But that's not the usual circumstance.''
Painstaking examination of a bomb scene can yield chemical residues, vehicle parts, bits of wire, packing materials and pieces of bomb components. Investigators begin at the center of the blast, looking for parts of the bomb that might have been driven into the ground. Then they work their way out - in this case maybe for several blocks.
From small scraps, investigators can determine the type of bomb, the level of sophistication involved in building it, and perhaps even the telltale ``signature'' of a particular individual or terrorist group.
Bomb components can lead police to legitimate suppliers who may have business records of purchases by suspects. Car parts can yield vehicle identification numbers. Markings on a piece of cut wire eventually might match pliers in a suspect's toolbox.
``What you are looking for is small items that you can relate to the individual who committed the crime,'' said Phillip Asencio-Lane, a forensic consultant in Birmingham, Ala., who specializes in political terrorism.
But such precise investigation usually takes months and requires sophisticated expertise. In Oklahoma City, rescue efforts - which always take priority - may have already disturbed evidence at the crime scene.
``A bomb this size is not like a bomb that goes off in somebody's mailbox,'' said George Fassnacht, a forensic consultant and former head of the Philadelphia police ballistics unit. ``It's time-consuming work sifting through a pile of rubble that size. This is a needle in a haystack.''
by CNB