Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OKLAHOMA CITY NOTE: LEDE LENGTH: Long
Timothy McVeigh, 27, and Terry Nichols, 40, each were charged Thursday with 11 counts in the April 19 bombing and could get the death penalty.
Michael Fortier, a 26-year-old who struck a deal with prosecutors, was charged with four lesser offenses and immediately pleaded guilty. He could get up to 23 years in prison in return for testifying against the others.
All three men were in the Army together at Fort Riley, Kan., and shared a deep distrust of the government and a love of weapons.
After initially focusing on possible links to right-wing militias nationwide, investigators concluded they did not have enough evidence to charge any others. Privately, a senior federal official said the attack was probably not some kind of vast right-wing conspiracy but the work of maybe five malcontents, only two of whom did any ``heavy lifting.''
``We will pursue every lead based on the evidence. But we have charged everyone involved that we have evidence of at this point,'' Attorney General Janet Reno said in Washington.
Lead prosecutor Joseph Hartzler said,:``The grand jury found probable cause to believe that there are others involved. We will continue the investigation.''
The indictment does not specify a motive for the bombing, but prosecutors earlier said McVeigh was angry at the government because of the 1993 cult disaster at Waco, Texas. The bombing took place on the two-year anniversary of the assault and fire that ended in the deaths of at least 85 cult members.
A 4,800-pound fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb in a rented Ryder truck ripped apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 and injuring more than 500.
The grand jury returned the indictment in a courthouse across the street from the blast site.
The indictment details a plot dating to September in which McVeigh and Nichols allegedly stockpiled ammonium fertilizer and other explosives in Kansas and Arizona, planned the robbery of a gun dealer in Arkansas to finance the attack, and together built the bomb.
McVeigh is accused of actually detonating the bomb after parking the truck in front of the building.
The charges include using weapons of mass destruction, destruction of federal property, and the killing of federal law officers who worked in the building.
Fortier is charged with knowing about the plot and not alerting authorities, and transporting stolen firearms across state lines. Authorities said he admitted casing the federal building in December with McVeigh.
Fortier was taken into custody after pleading guilty before U.S. District Judge David Russell.
Dressed in jeans and a light blue shirt, Fortier calmly admitted each offense and waived his right to a jury trial.
When Russell asked Fortier if he understood all the charges, Fortier said, ``I understand what's going on, your honor.''
Asked if he had prior knowledge of the bombing, he said, ``Yes, sir, I did.''
Nichols' attorney, Michael Tigar, said he will try to have the trial moved out of Oklahoma and have Nichols tried separately from McVeigh.
At a news conference, he displayed large charts claiming his client is innocent and can't get a fair trial in Oklahoma. ``Terry Nichols Wasn't There,'' one sign said.
McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, warned against a ``rush to judgment'' and said he was concerned ``that for political reasons, the indictments and prosecutions of a limited number of `drifters' will be passed off to the public as a completely successful investigation resulting in the arrest of all concerned.''
The government dropped earlier unrelated firearms charges against Nichols' brother, James, who lives in Michigan.
At its height, the case was under full-time investigation by more than 700 agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Tens of thousands of tips from citizens poured into toll-free government phone lines, producing leads worked on by every FBI office in the nation.
Federal agents fanned out across the country to interview members of far-right militia groups. But aside from shared philosophies, they found few connections between the primary suspects and the militias, the senior federal official said.
Authorities have five years to bring more charges if their investigation turns up more suspects.
In Washington, FBI Director Louis Freeh said the bureau has not withdrawn its drawings of John Doe No. 2, the man who was thought to have helped McVeigh rent the truck in Kansas days before the bombing.
Investigators now believe that man was an Army private who visited a truck rental office a day before McVeigh and was not involved in the plot.
McVeigh's younger sister, Jennifer, and Fortier's wife, Lori, have testified before the grand jury under grants of immunity and are not expected to be charged.
by CNB