Defense Says Others Were Involved In Bombing (Oklahoma)

channeloklahoma ^

[chance33_98]

Defense Says Others Were Involved In Bombing

POSTED: 8:28 a.m. CDT July 17, 2003 UPDATED: 8:29 a.m. CDT July 17, 2003

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Attorneys for Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols say they will provide evidence that shows other unnamed people took part in the bombing.

In a legal brief filed Wednesday, Nichols' attorneys said they plan to provide evidence that would raise questions about Nichols' involvement in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

"The defense believes that it will be able to produce evidence pointing to others - whose identities are still unknown - who seemingly were involved with Mr. McVeigh in the bombing and, thus, may be able to raise serious doubts about Mr. Nichols' own involvement."

The attorneys suggested jurors will not listen to such evidence with open minds after being exposed to "over eight years of prejudicial publicity."

Nichols' attorneys say their client won't be able to get a fair trial in Oklahoma and have asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.

"All of the publicity has so colored and so hardened people's attitudes about Mr. Nichols that it has robbed him of his presumption of innocence," his attorneys argued in a 54-page legal brief.

Nichols, 48, is facing 161 state murder charges for his role in the bombing.

His attorneys point to hundreds of examples of prejudicial publicity about the Oklahoma City bombing, including accounts about Nichols' own federal conviction, the creation of a bombing memorial and the controversy over funding for Nichols' attorneys.

His attorneys also argue that terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hurt Nichols' chance for a fair trial.

"No one can seriously question the fact that in post 9/11 America the fear of terrorism and the desire to strike back against the terrorists are widespread," the attorneys argued.

Nichols has been convicted of on conspiracy charges and involuntary manslaughter charges for the death of eight federal agents.

For that trial, a federal judge moved the trial to Denver after ruling Nichols had been "demonized" in Oklahoma and could not get a fair trial in the state.

Nichols' state trial has been set for March 1.

Judge Steven Taylor has scheduled a series of pretrial hearings to resolve legal issues. The next hearing is set for Monday.

[PhiKapMom]

I don't believe the Clinton two-man theory for a minute. No more than I believe the damage caused to that building was on a truck full of fertilizer.

At the Bombing Memorial Museum they have large pictures of the building including the location of the truck. When you look at the damage to the building it is like an explosion came up from the basement as it is perfectly sheered (sp) all the way from the basement to the top of the building in a half oval shape.

What bothers me is the fact they had the building tore down almost immediately. Lived in S. Texas outside San Antonio at the time of the bombing. They were looking for two Middle Eastern Males that had rented a vehicle from the Dallas airport in connection with the Bombing. That was all over the news down there. Then when Clinton went to the Memorial, suddenly John Doe turns up to be in the military! Give me a break!

And another odd detail. The night of the bombing in the middle of the night, large vans pulled into the underground parking garage of the federal building in San Antonio, loaded up what was reported to be ammunition, etc., that were stored in Federal Buildings in the middle part of the US to be used in case of an attack on both coasts. The items in question were moved to Kelly AFB. I was watching the news at 3 a.m. in the morning after the bombing and saw the pictures from the TV cameras filming these vehicles going into the garage and coming out.

[PhiKapMom]

I don't believe the Clinton two-man theory for a minute. No more than I believe the damage caused to that building was all caused by a truck full of fertilizer.

At the Bombing Memorial Museum they have large pictures of the building including the location of the truck. When you look at the damage to the building it is like an explosion came up from the basement as it is perfectly sheered (sp) all the way from the basement to the top of the building in a half oval shape.

What bothers me is the fact they had the building tore down almost immediately. Lived in S. Texas outside San Antonio at the time of the bombing. They were looking for two Middle Eastern Males that had rented a vehicle from the Dallas airport in connection with the Bombing. That was all over the news down there. Then when Clinton went to the Memorial, suddenly John Doe turns up to be in the military! Give me a break!

And another odd detail. The night of the bombing in the middle of the night, large vans pulled into the underground parking garage of the federal building in San Antonio, loaded up what was reported to be ammunition, etc., that were stored in Federal Buildings in the middle part of the US to be used in case of an attack on both coasts. The items in question were moved to Kelly AFB. I was watching the news at 3 a.m. in the morning after the bombing and saw the pictures from the TV cameras filming these vehicles going into the garage and coming out.

[Cindy]

LINKS OF INTEREST:

FOX NEWS.com (AP): "FEDS INVESTIGATING THEFT OF LARGE AMOUNT OF EXPLOSIVE CHEMICAL" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "DENVER -- Federal agents said Friday they are investigating the theft of 1,100 pounds of an explosive chemical from construction companies in Colorado and California in the past week. Both thefts involve ammonium nitrate, a key ingredient in the bomb that destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.") (July 18, 2003) (Read More...)

stepping back in time...APRIL 19, 1995: ALFRED P. MURRAH BUILDING, OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING (Read More...)

[backhoe]

Thanks- I'll use those-
JR

[Nita Nupress]

That said, I believe Terry Nichols could blow this whole thing wide open -- he traveled overseas and believe if anyone met with the operatives it was him.

Like misterioso said above, there are probably just too many fingers in this pie for the truth to come out, at least in our lifetimes, anyway. If Nichols and his team got anywhere close to revealing any embarrassing details, he would probably be 'McDougaled,' you think? They've gone to such great lengths to keep the wraps on this one, I just can't imagine them letting Nichols blow it now.

I wish I could be less skeptical. And it's a downright shame that Jayna Davis hasn't gotten any further than she has with her all her evidence. Whatever happened with the Arlen Specter investigation, anyway? Anyone know? I haven't been around much at all lately.

Sometimes I wonder if Specter's job was to placate us.

[JohnBerger]

That said, I believe Terry Nichols could blow this whole thing wide open -- he traveled overseas and believe if anyone met with the operatives it was him.

The legal filing indicated that the new evidence the defense team seeks to introduce is intended to show that McVeigh had helpers other than Nichols, so they are probably going the Elohim City route, rather than tracing Nichols' past.

After all, if Nichols' copped to having facilitated an al Qaeda or Middle Eastern connection, that's not exactly going to help him escape the death penalty. If anything, it would open him up to ADDITIONAL federal death penalty charges. -JMB