Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OKLAHOMA CITY LENGTH: Medium
Investigators were trying to trace McVeigh's movements after the explosion that gutted the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, a source said. One theory was that McVeigh dropped off a still-missing colleague before he was arrested for traffic and weapons violations.
Three witnesses placed McVeigh in front of the building moments before the explosion, according to the same source.
The revelations of McVeigh's actions came in a Wichita, Kan., courtroom as prosecutors sought to take the friend, Terry Nichols, to Oklahoma. The judge granted their request but delayed it until May 5 so Nichols could appeal.
U.S. District Judge Monti Belot seemed skeptical that firearms, a 60mm anti-tank rocket and other devices found in Nichols' home were consistent with his status as a military surplus dealer.
``I don't believe most of the citizens of the United States have anti-tank weapons,'' he said. ``I don't know that U.S. citizens have that many guns or pamphlets about Waco or literature about government warfare.
``There is substantial evidence that Mr. Nichols is an associate with Mr. McVeigh in the extent of connections with the Oklahoma bombing,'' Belot said.
U.S. Attorney Randy Rathbun said McVeigh called Nichols from Oklahoma City on April 16 and asked him to pick him up. Nichols, 40, lives in Herington, Kan., about 270 miles north of Oklahoma City.
Rathbun, quoting what Nichols told the FBI, gave this account of what happened next:
Nichols picked up McVeigh, and as they drove north, McVeigh told him: ``Something big is going to happen.'' Nichols responded: ``Are you going to rob a bank?'' and McVeigh repeated, ``Something big is going to happen.''
The men reached Junction City, Kan., early on April 17. The FBI says the Ryder truck used in the bombing was rented in Junction City later that day.
The bomb exploded the next morning in Oklahoma City.
Minutes before the blast, and apparently before the arrival of the truck carrying the 4,800-pound bomb, three witnesses saw McVeigh in front of the federal building, a law enforcement official in Washington reported on condition of anonymity.
The truck was in front of the building ``less than 10 or 15 minutes. There was probably a very short-fused timing device on it,'' the official said.
Investigators have been dispatched along Interstate 35 from Oklahoma City to Perry - a 60-mile stretch - to interview restaurant, gas station and other proprietors as well as residents to see if anyone saw McVeigh, the still-missing suspect dubbed ``John Doe 2'' or others, the official said.
McVeigh, driving a car, was stopped by a state trooper for a traffic violation near Perry 75 minutes after the bombing. He was arrested on a weapons charge and was in the county jail for two days before authorities realized the bombing suspect was under their noses.
A crumpled business card, apparently left by McVeigh, was found in the police vehicle that took him to the station in Perry. ``It had a note on it to pick up more explosives, like a reminder note,'' a federal law enforcement official said, demanding anonymity.
The source also said McVeigh has refused to talk. ``He's very stoic and has classified himself as a prisoner of war,'' the official said.
McVeigh is to appear at a hearing today on a request to move his case out of Oklahoma City.
Nichols and his brother James were charged Tuesday in Michigan with conspiring with McVeigh to manufacture explosives. Those charges do not involve the Oklahoma bomb.
In Kansas, Rathbun said in court that Terry Nichols admitted buying 100 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer last month. Officials believe ammonium nitrate was used to make the bomb.
by CNB