Editing Oklahoma City bombing (section)

==Trials and sentencing of the conspirators==
[[File:Okc bombings rescue team 5.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A woman, at the left of the image, is reading a black spray paint message written on a brick wall. The message reads "Team 5 4–19–95 We Search For the truth We Seek Justice. The Courts Require it. The Victims Cry for it. And God Demands it!"|A memorial from Rescue Team 5 for the victims of the bombing ]]
The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) led the official investigation, known as OKBOMB,<ref name="PROKBOMB">{{cite press release|publisher=FBI |date=May 11, 2001 |title=Statement of Special Agent in Charge Danny Defenbaugh Regarding OKBOMB Documents |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-of-special-agent-in-charge-danny-defenbaugh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113030453/http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-of-special-agent-in-charge-danny-defenbaugh |archive-date=January 13, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> with [[Weldon L. Kennedy]] acting as special agent in charge.<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite news |last=Ostrow |first=Ronald |date=August 9, 1995 |title=Chief of Oklahoma Bomb Probe Named Deputy Director at FBI |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-09-mn-33270-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Kennedy oversaw 900 federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel, including 300 FBI agents, 200 officers from the [[Oklahoma City Police Department]], 125 members of the [[Oklahoma National Guard]], and 55 officers from the [[Oklahoma Department of Public Safety]].{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=76}} The crime task force was deemed the largest since the investigation into the [[John F. Kennedy assassination|assassination of John F. Kennedy]].{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=76}} OKBOMB was the largest criminal case in America's history, with FBI agents conducting 28,000 interviews, amassing {{convert|3.5|ST|MT|abbr=on}} of evidence, and collecting nearly one billion pieces of information.{{sfn|Serano|1998|pp=139-141}}<ref>{{cite news |date=April 16, 2006 |title=Lessons learned, and not learned, 11&nbsp;years later |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12343917 |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[NBC News]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=vii}} Federal judge [[Richard Paul Matsch]] ordered that the venue for the trial be moved from Oklahoma City to [[Denver]], Colorado, ruling that the defendants would be unable to receive a fair trial in Oklahoma.<ref name="DenverTrial">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Bombing trial moves to Denver|publisher=[[Gainesville Sun]]|date=February 21, 1996|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pesRAAAAIBAJ&pg=1617,4656436&dq=oklahoma+city+bombing+trial+moved+to+denver|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125233745/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pesRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=teoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1617,4656436&dq=oklahoma+city+bombing+trial+moved+to+denver|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The investigation led to the separate trials and convictions of McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier.

===Timothy McVeigh===
{{Main|Timothy McVeigh}}
Opening statements in McVeigh's trial began on April 24, 1997. The [[Federal government of the United States|United States]] was represented by a team of prosecutors led by Joseph Hartzler. In his opening statement Hartzler outlined McVeigh's motivations, and the evidence against him. McVeigh, he said, had developed a hatred of the government during his time in the army, after reading ''[[The Turner Diaries]]''. His beliefs were supported by what he saw as the militia's ideological opposition to increases in taxes and the passage of the [[Brady Bill]], and were further reinforced by the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents.<ref>{{cite news |last=Feldman |first=Paul |date=June 18, 1995 |title=Militia Groups Growing, Study Says Extremism: Despite negative publicity since Oklahoma bombing, membership has risen, Anti-Defamation League finds |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-18-mn-14589-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The prosecution called 137 witnesses, including Michael Fortier and his wife Lori, and McVeigh's sister, Jennifer McVeigh, all of whom testified to confirm McVeigh's hatred of the government and his desire to take militant action against it.{{sfn|Wright|2007|p=10}} Both Fortiers testified that McVeigh had told them of his plans to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Michael Fortier revealed that McVeigh had chosen the date, and Lori Fortier testified that she had created the false identification card McVeigh used to rent the Ryder truck.<ref name="TMT">{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcveigh/mcveighaccount.html |title=The Oklahoma City Bombing & The Trial of Timothy McVeigh |last=Linder |first=Douglas O. |year=2006 |work=Famous Trials: Oklahoma City Bombing Trial |publisher=[[University of Missouri–Kansas City]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223000407/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcveigh/mcveighaccount.html |archive-date=February 23, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

McVeigh was represented by a team of six principal attorneys, led by [[Stephen Jones (attorney)|Stephen Jones]].<ref name="Petition">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/threat/mcveigh/front.htm |title=Petition for Writ of Mandamus of Petitioner-Defendant, Timothy James McVeigh and Brief in Support |work=Case No. 96-CR-68-M |date=March 25, 1997 |publisher=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811035049/http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/mcveigh/front.htm |archive-date=August 11, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to law professor [[Doug Linder|Douglas O. Linder]], McVeigh wanted Jones to present a "necessity defense"—which would argue that he was in "imminent danger" from the government (that his bombing was intended to prevent future crimes by the government, such as the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents).<ref name="TMT"/> McVeigh argued that "imminent" does not mean "immediate": "If a comet is hurtling toward the earth, and it's out past the orbit of Pluto, it's not an immediate threat to Earth, but it is an imminent threat."{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=285–286}} Despite McVeigh's wishes, Jones attempted to discredit the prosecution's case in an attempt to instill reasonable doubt. Jones also believed that McVeigh was part of a larger conspiracy, and sought to present him as "the designated patsy",<ref name="TMT"/> but McVeigh disagreed with Jones arguing that rationale for his defense. After a hearing, Judge Matsch independently ruled the evidence concerning a larger conspiracy to be too insubstantial to be admissible.<ref name="TMT"/> In addition to arguing that the bombing could not have been carried out by two men alone, Jones also attempted to create reasonable doubt by arguing that no one had seen McVeigh near the scene of the crime, and that the investigation into the bombing had lasted only two weeks.<ref name="TMT"/> Jones presented 25 witnesses, including [[Frederic Whitehurst]], over a one-week period. Although Whitehurst described the FBI's sloppy investigation of the bombing site and its handling of other key evidence, he was unable to point to any direct evidence that he knew to be contaminated.<ref name="TMT"/>

A key point of contention in the case was the unmatched left leg found after the bombing. Although it was initially believed to be from a male, it was later determined to belong to Lakesha Levy, a female member of the Air Force who was killed in the bombing.<ref name="LakeshaLeg"/> Levy's coffin had to be re-opened so that her leg could replace another unmatched leg that had previously been buried with her remains. The unmatched leg had been embalmed, which prevented authorities from being able to extract DNA to determine its owner.<ref name="LeftLeg"/> Jones argued that the leg could have belonged to another bomber, possibly John Doe No. 2.<ref name="LeftLeg"/> The prosecution disputed the claim, saying that the leg could have belonged to any one of eight victims who had been buried without a left leg.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/28/us/2-sides-agree-to-exhume-one-victim-in-bomb-case.html|last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=February 28, 1996 |title=2 Sides Agree to Exhume One Victim in Bomb Case. |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Numerous damaging leaks, which appeared to originate from conversations between McVeigh and his defense attorneys, emerged. They included a confession said to have been inadvertently included on a computer disk that was given to the press, which McVeigh believed seriously compromised his chances of getting a fair trial.<ref name="TMT"/> A [[gag order]] was imposed during the trial, prohibiting attorneys on either side from commenting to the press on the evidence, proceedings, or opinions regarding the trial proceedings. The defense was allowed to enter into evidence six pages of a 517-page Justice Department report criticizing the FBI crime laboratory and David Williams, one of the agency's explosives experts, for reaching unscientific and biased conclusions. The report claimed that Williams had worked backward in the investigation rather than basing his determinations on forensic evidence.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=315–317}}

The jury deliberated for 23 hours. On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy.<ref name="OSCN">{{cite web|title=U.S. v. McVeigh |url=http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=151372 |publisher=Oklahoma State Courts Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227064229/http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=151372 |archive-date=December 27, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="1997-06-03 Denver Post">{{cite news |last1=Eddy |first1=Mark |last2=Lane |first2=George |last3=Pankratz |first3=Howard |last4=Wilmsen |first4=Steven |date=1997-06-03 |title=Guilty on every count |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bombv1.htm |url-status=live |work=[[The Denver Post]] |language=en |issn=1930-2193 |oclc=8789877 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018204239/https://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bombv1.htm |archive-date=2023-10-18 |access-date=2024-01-12}}</ref> Although the defense argued for a reduced sentence of life imprisonment, McVeigh was sentenced to death.<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine |last=Pellegrini |first=Frank |title=McVeigh Given Death Penalty |url=http://www.time.com/time/reports/mcveigh/home.html |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115160903/http://www.time.com/time/reports/mcveigh/home.html |archive-date=January 15, 2009 |url-status=dead |accessdate=February 3, 2007 }}</ref> In May 2001, the Justice Department announced that the FBI had mistakenly failed to provide over 3,000 documents to McVeigh's defense counsel.<ref name="CNN3000">{{cite news |last1=Bierbauer |first1=Charles |last2=Candiotti |first2=Susan |last3=London |first3=Gina |last4=Frieden |first4=Terry |date=May 11, 2001 |title=McVeigh execution rescheduled for June&nbsp;11 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/05/11/mcveigh.evidence.05/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928220930/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-05-11/justice/mcveigh.evidence.05_1_timothy-mcveigh-mcveigh-plan-mcveigh-execution?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=September 28, 2012 |access-date=June 16, 2009 |work=CNN}}</ref> The Justice Department also announced that the execution would be postponed for one month for the defense to review the documents. On June 6, federal judge [[Richard Paul Matsch]] ruled the documents would not prove McVeigh innocent and ordered the execution to proceed.<ref name="WPProceed">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |title=Judge Won't Delay McVeigh Execution |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010606/aponline140014_000.htm |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 6, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325115212/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010606/aponline140014_000.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> McVeigh invited conductor [[David Woodard]] to perform pre-requiem [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] music on the eve of his execution; while reproachful of McVeigh's capital wrongdoing, Woodard consented.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Siletti |first=Michael |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/186334788.pdf#page=248 |title=Sounding the last mile: Music and capital punishment in the United States since 1976 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601010605/https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/102495/SILETTI-DISSERTATION-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2020-06-01 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]] |year=2018 |page= |pages=240–241 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|240–241}} After President [[George W. Bush]] approved the execution (McVeigh was a federal inmate and federal law dictates that the president must approve the execution of federal prisoners), he was executed by [[lethal injection]] at the [[Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute]] in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]], on June 11, 2001.<ref name="CNNPrez">{{cite news |last=Mears |first=Bill |title=Bush approves execution of Army private |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/28/military.execution/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=July 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331111324/http://articles.cnn.com/2008-07-28/justice/military.execution_1_execution-date-death-row-military-justice?_s=PM:CRIME |archive-date=March 31, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CNN3">{{cite news |title=McVeigh Execution: A "completion of justice" |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/11/mcveigh.02/index.html |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727172352/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-06-11/justice/mcveigh.02_1_kathleen-treanor-timothy-mcveigh-mcveigh-execution?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |date=June 11, 2001 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 26, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557081 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012160712/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557081 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |work=NBC News Report |title=Day of Reckoning (execution of Timothy McVeigh) |date=June 11, 2001 |format=Video}}</ref> The execution was transmitted on [[closed-circuit television]] so that the relatives of the victims could witness his death.<ref name="CTVN">{{cite news |last=Frieden |first=Terry |title=Okla. families can watch McVeigh execution on TV |url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/04/12/ashcroft.mcveigh.02/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122110556/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-04-12/justice/ashcroft.mcveigh.02_1_mcveigh-execution-timothy-mcveigh-closed-circuit-television-feed?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=January 22, 2012 |publisher=CNN |date=April 12, 2001 |url-status=live}}</ref> McVeigh's execution was the first [[Capital punishment by the United States federal government|federal execution]] in 38 years.{{sfn|Wright|2007|p=17}}

===Terry Nichols===
{{Main|Terry Nichols}}
Nichols stood trial twice. He was first tried by the federal government in 1997, and found guilty of conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction and of eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=December 28, 1997 |title=December&nbsp;21–27; Nichols Found Guilty in Oklahoma City Case |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/weekinreview/december-21-27-nichols-found-guilty-in-oklahoma-city-case.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605180438/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/weekinreview/december-21-27-nichols-found-guilty-in-oklahoma-city-case.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After he was sentenced on June 4, 1998, to life without parole, the State of Oklahoma in 2000 sought a death-penalty conviction on 161 counts of first-degree murder (160 non-federal-agent victims and one fetus).<ref name="Nichols161">{{cite news |last=Davey |first=Monica |date=May 27, 2004 |title=Nichols found guilty of murder |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/27/MNG8T6SHV51.DTL |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306195134/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F05%2F27%2FMNG8T6SHV51.DTL |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |url-status=dead|access-date=May 12, 2017 }}</ref> On May 26, 2004, the jury found him guilty on all charges, but deadlocked on the issue of sentencing him to death. Presiding Judge [[Steven W. Taylor]] then determined the sentence of 161&nbsp;consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.<ref name="NicholsNoParole">{{cite news|last=Talley|first=Tim|date=August 10, 2004|title=Nichols gets 161 life sentences|newspaper=[[The Register-Guard]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-lkUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6920,2076618&dq=nichols+161+no+parole|access-date=June 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125235053/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-lkUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kOsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6920,2076618&dq=nichols+161+no+parole|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In March 2005, FBI investigators, acting on a tip from [[Gregory Scarpa Jr.]], searched a buried crawl space in Nichols's former house, and found additional explosives missed in the preliminary search after Nichols was arrested.<ref name="2005Expl">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=FBI: Explosives Found in Nichols' Old Home |publisher=Fox News Channel |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152211,00.html |date=April 2, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208033940/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152211,00.html |archive-date=February 8, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Michael and Lori Fortier{{anchor|Michael_Fortier}}===
Michael and Lori Fortier were considered [[accomplice]]s for their foreknowledge of the planning of the bombing. In addition to Michael's assisting McVeigh in scouting the federal building, Lori had helped McVeigh laminate the fake driver's license that was later used to rent the Ryder truck.<ref name="McVeighBomb33"/> Michael agreed to testify against McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife.<ref name="CNN6">{{cite news|title=Transcripts |publisher=CNN |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/20/sitroom.01.html |date=January 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629124159/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/20/sitroom.01.html |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was sentenced on May 27, 1998, to 12 years in prison, and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the attack.<ref name="Fortier12years">{{cite news|title=12-Year Sentence Given Again to Witness in Oklahoma Bombing |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/09/us/12-year-sentence-given-again-to-witness-in-oklahoma-bombing.html |date=October 9, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605152918/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/09/us/12-year-sentence-given-again-to-witness-in-oklahoma-bombing.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On January 20, 2006, Michael was released from prison, transferred into the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|Witness Protection Program]], and given a new identity.<ref name="DMNidenity">{{cite news |first=Arnold |last=Hamilton |title=New life, identity await Fortier as he leaves prison |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011906dntexfortier.1742cf8f.html |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |date=January 18, 2006 |access-date=July 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180601/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011906dntexfortier.1742cf8f.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Others===
No "John Doe #2" was ever identified, and the government never openly investigated anyone else in conjunction with the bombing. Although the defense teams in both McVeigh's and Nichols's trials suggested that others were involved, Judge Steven W. Taylor found no credible, relevant, or legally admissible evidence of anyone other than McVeigh and Nichols having directly participated in the bombing.<ref name="TMT"/> When McVeigh was asked if there were other conspirators in the bombing, he replied: "You can't handle the truth! Because the truth is, I blew up the Murrah Building, and isn't it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of hell?"<ref name="NoSympathy">{{cite news|first=Thomas |last=Jo |title='No Sympathy' for Dead Children, McVeigh Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/us/no-sympathy-for-dead-children-mcveigh-says.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 29, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422200707/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/us/no-sympathy-for-dead-children-mcveigh-says.html |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On the morning of McVeigh's execution a letter was released in which he had written "For [[Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy theories|those die-hard conspiracy theorists who will refuse to believe this]], I turn the tables and say: Show me where I needed anyone else. Financing? Logistics? Specialized tech skills? Brainpower? Strategy? ... Show me where I needed a dark, mysterious 'Mr. X'!"<ref name="OttleyPreExec">{{cite news|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/updates.html |title=McVeigh in Good Spirits in Final Hours, June&nbsp;11, 2001 |first=Ted |last=Ottley |publisher=[[truTV]] |date=June 11, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924155955/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/updates.html |archive-date=September 24, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>