Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100087
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: OKLAHOMA CITY LENGTH: Medium
Nichols was scheduled to be transported here today from Wichita, Kan., where he has been held as a material witness in the bombing and as a defendant in an unrelated explosives conspiracy charge. McVeigh and Nichols have been described as sharing a hatred of the federal government.
There was no indication that federal authorities believe they have enough evidence to bring similar charges against Nichols' brother James, with whom McVeigh formerly lived in Michigan and who also is being held as a material witness and as a defendant in the explosives conspiracy case.
The complaint against Terry Nichols was sealed, one source said, to give the court advance notice to look for defense counsel in hopes of avoiding the shuffle that occurred with attorneys representing McVeigh. The two lawyers who originally defended McVeigh succeeding in removing themselves from the case, noting that they had known victims of the worst terrorist act committed on U.S. soil.
David J. Phillips, the chief public defender in Kansas who helped with Terry Nichols' defense in Wichita, said he thought his client was close to being charged in the bombing. But he said he was unsure of what the exact charge would be.
At the same time, sources close to the case said the investigation is taking a deeper look at Terry Nichols' 12-year-old son, Joshua, after learning he lived with his father for several days before the attack. The boy could be a crucial witness, the sources said.
The boy's mother, Lana Padilla, said in an interview broadcast this week that Joshua told the FBI that he and his father had discussed the ingredients of a bomb made with a soda pop bottle. Padilla was interviewed by the syndicated television show ``American Journal.''
Padilla, who is divorced from Nichols, is to appear before the federal grand jury in Oklahoma City investigating the bombing, government sources said. They declined to give the date.
The sources said differences exist between what she has told the FBI and what she said in her television interview.
Questioning of her son is more of a problem because of his juvenile status, which, among other things, allows him to be accompanied before the grand jury by an attorney, his mother or some other adult, the government sources explained. Adult witnesses appear without attorneys.
The charges against Terry Nichols came as investigators began to fear they were given a false lead in the description of suspect John Doe No. 2. Some are even advancing the theory that John Doe 2 was Nichols, who appears to bear little resemblance to the FBI composite drawing of the suspect, or possibly even his son, who appears to be as tall as 5-foot-7 and to weigh as much as 170. One source close to the case said that if John Doe 2 turns out to be Joshua Nichols, the likelihood is that he had an ``innocuous'' role, but he could be helpful as a witness.
Another source close to the investigation said doubts also are now rising over whether the man who accompanied McVeigh to the Ryder rental truck agency was the same individual that a witness reported seeing with McVeigh as they sped away from downtown Oklahoma City on the morning of the bombing. Investigators had thought the same person was present at both places.
The investigators said authorities theorize that John Doe 2 could be two people, and that McVeigh and his alleged conspirators could have used different men to accompany him in order to serve as ``decoys'' and confuse investigators trying to trace his movements.
He said officials also fear that the descriptions and the composite drawing of the second suspect not only may have resulted from a ``misdirection,'' but may have cost them valuable investigative time in the early stages of the manhunt.
Under that assumption, he said, investigators have a theory that Terry Nichols' brother James was ``the brains'' behind how the bombing scheme would work. Terry Nichols was the expert in building the explosive, and McVeigh was the one willing to carry it out.
by CNB