Catching a Monster: The Investigation Into The 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19th, 1995, a quiet morning like any other suddenly turned into an unthinkable nightmare when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was torn into by a forty-eight-hundred-pound ammonium nitrate–fuel oil bomb detonated from a truck parked outside the building.  It killed 168 people including 19 children, many of whom were inside a Day Care, which was part of the building.   The city showed incredible resolve, working night and day on rescue operations with help from emergency services and civilians alike.  No looting or violence took place in the aftermath and thousands of people and businesses contributed to the rescue operations, saving many lives.  In the meantime, another operation was taking place – one that involved finding whatever twisted person or persons was behind this atrocious act.  In today’s video, we’ll look into the investigation and the arrest of the Oklahoma City bomber and his accomplices, along with why and how they did what they did and where they are now.

The axle from the Ryder Truck

Almost immediately after the bombing, while rescue and emergency crews worked tirelessly to save as many people as possible, the investigation into finding the culprit began.  About a block away from the building, a large vehicle axle was found – one that likely belonged to the truck that held the bomb.  FBI Special Agent Jim Elliott, who had over 30 years of experience in investigating criminal cases, contacted the National Insurance Crime Bureau, who could trace the vehicle identification number using the information on the axle.  The NICB quickly discovered the axle belonged to a Ryder moving truck.  A phone call to Ryder headquarters narrowed down the exact model – a 1993 24,000 lb. Ford moving truck registered in the state of Florida with the plate number NEE26R.  Its last known location was a Ryder rental point called Elliot’s Body Shop in Junction City, Kansas where it was recently rented out.

Within a few hours of the bomb going off, an FBI agent arrived at the body shop to obtain rental documents for the Ryder truck.  The renter’s name was Robert D. Kling. One of the employees,  Tom Kessinger, recalled the man who called himself Kling coming in with another man and worked with an FBI composite artist to create some drawings.  After a few hours, a drawing of each suspect was completed, with the witness saying there was nothing else he could remember to improve the drawings.

Forensic sketches of two men who walked into the Ryder Rental location

The FBI decided to release the drawings to the public, a decision that invited thousands of false reports and misinformation from supposed sightings.  The drawings did help connect the bombers to the rental location, however, when witnesses in Oklahoma City confirmed that one of the drawings, John Doe #1, looked like a man who was seen in front of the Murrah Building just minutes before the explosion.  Meanwhile, more physical evidence was found around the crime scene including the Ryder truck’s license plate – matching the receipt from the rental location and the information from the NCIB – NEE26R.

The license plate from the Ryder Truck

Back in Junction City, Kansas, agents and officers were knocking on doors of businesses and hotels, trying to find any one familiar with a man who resembled John Doe #1, driving a Ryder Truck.  It was one of many tasks various agents were working on in both Kansas and Oklahoma.  Unsurprisingly, those officers placed on this task were finding very little luck until an agent found an unlikely hit at a placed called the Dreamland Motel, when the owner, Lea McGown, surprised the agent by responding that yes, she had recalled a young man staying in her motel who was driving a Ryder Truck.  She even said there was something a little off about the man, and that’s why she placed him in Room #25, near the office.  When shown the composite drawing, she confirmed that it looked just like the man – whose name on the registration card was Tim McVeigh.

Timothy McVeigh's Dreamland Motel Registration Card

On the card, McVeigh wrote down an address in Decker, Michigan that was quickly determined to belong to a man named James Nichols.  After some interviews, investigators became extremely interested in the brother of James – Terry Nichols, who evidently had some extreme anti-government views.  They traced his whereabouts and he had moved from Michigan to Las Vegas, and then – to Kansas.  Investigators also discovered that he had been in the Army and in the same basic training unit as a man named Tim McVeigh.  Within 24 hours, investigators were focused in on two primary suspects – Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

They didn’t have to look for long to find McVeigh.  Shortly after the bombing, near a town called Perry, Oklahoma, which sits about an hour north of Oklahoma City right off I-35, State Trooper Charles J. Hangar pulled over a yellow 1977 Mercury that had no license plate.  The driver had an illegal loaded Glock .45 handgun on him.  Hangar searched the vehicle and then arrested the driver - a man named Timothy McVeigh.  The man was booked into Noble County Jail in Perry.  He was wearing a white t-shirt with Abraham Lincoln on the front and the phrase “Sic Semper Tyrannis”, translated to “Death Unto Tyrants,” the same phrase screamed by John Wilkes Booth when he shot Lincoln.

The T-Shirt McVeigh Was Wearing the Day of the Bombing

McVeigh had previously removed the license plate and covered the VIN number with a note that said “Not Abandoned – Please do not tow – will move by April 23rd (needs battery & cable).”  This was to prevent any camera or bystander from getting information on his getaway vehicle.  But McVeigh also decided not to put a plate on after he was out of the city – and this is why he was eventually pulled over.  

The Note Left in the Yellow Mercury

Investigators quickly learned that a man named Timothy McVeigh had been arrested driving away from Oklahoma City towards Kansas.  They showed up to question him and when they asked if he knew why he was being questioned, he responded “it’s probably about that Oklahoma City thing.”  The address on his driver’s license matched the address on the registration card at the Dreamland Motel.  He also resembled John Doe #1.  This was clearly the man they were looking for and he was taken into federal custody.

Now, investigators began to focus more on John Doe #2 – was it Terry Nichols, the man who lived in Kansas not far from where the Ryder truck was rented?  Nichols was already panicking when investigators began to monitor his movements.  His name was being mentioned in the news and he knew McVeigh had already been arrested.  When he realized he was being watched, he went to the police station in Herington, Kansas to try and talk his way out of the situation.  FBI agents followed him there and, after verifying he was unarmed, sat him down to question him.

Nichols denied any involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing and any knowledge that McVeigh rented a Ryder Truck.  He even consented to a search of his house, but admitted McVeigh stayed with him and his brother for a while in Decker, Michigan.  He also said he recently saw McVeigh on April 16, 1995 – 3 days before the bombing.  According to Nichols, McVeigh called him and told him he was having car trouble in Oklahoma City, requesting a ride.  McVeigh told Nichols to keep it a secret that he was in Oklahoma City, so Nichols told his wife that he was picking up McVeigh in Omaha, Nebraska.

Timothy McVeigh

He picked up McVeigh and drove him back to Junction City, Kansas.  During the drive, Nichols said McVeigh did not tell him any specifics about his plans; only that something big was in the works.  He dropped him off at a McDonalds not far from the Dreamland Motel.  

When Nichols’ house was searched, many items linking him to the bombing were found, including a receipt for 2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, five rolls of blasting caps, a book that provided details on building an ammonium nitrate bomb, a liquid fuel meter, and four 55-gallon barrels.  The ammonium nitrate fertilizer was purchased under the name Mike Havens.  They also found a prepaid calling card purchased under the alias “Daryl Bridges” which was used to reserve the Ryder Rental Truck and was used extensively by both Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols to plan and execute the bombing.  Investigators traced phone calls made by both men attempting to obtain materials that would be used in the bombing.

Terry Nichols

Investigators grilled Nichols even harder, convinced he knew more than he was letting on.  He continued to deny that he knew anything about the bombing until he heard about it on the radio.  He said the ammonium nitrate was purchased so he could sell it in smaller quantities at gun shows.  He admitted that McVeigh and he had a distrust of the government, but that McVeigh was much more passionate about it than he was.  But Nichols began to reveal more, admitting he knew about building a bomb, including the proper ratios for mixing different ingredients and using blasting caps.

Interviews with his wife, Marife, revealed that both Nichols and McVeigh talked often about the tragedy of the Waco Massacre, which occurred on the exact day as the OKC bombing two years prior, April 19th, 1993.  A siege was held by the U.S. government and Texas law enforcement against a compound belonging to a religious cult.  On April 19th, the FBI launched a tear gas attack and the compound went up in flames, resulting in 76 deaths, including more than 20 children.  McVeigh and Nichols both blamed the government for setting fire to the compound.  Investigators believed Nichols was directly involved in the bombing and he was placed under arrest, although he was certainly not John Doe #2, as Nichols was at home at the point McVeigh rented the truck.

Nitrate Ammonium

As the investigation progressed, a 1994 burglary in Kansas was connected to the bombing.  229 sticks of Tovex Blastrite dynamite and over 500 blasting caps were stolen from the Martin Marietta Rock Quarry.  The blasting caps were the exact same ones found at the home of Terry Nichols.  They also found a cordless drill that, by matching the tool markings, was found to be the same one used in the burglary.  Nichols had now been directly connected to the crime and the evidence was mounting that he and McVeigh worked together in the bombing.

In preparing to make a case against these two, the FBI, investigators and prosecutors learned all the could.  As mentioned earlier,  Timothy McVeigh first befriended Terry Nichols in Army Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1988.  But there was also a third friend in the group – Michael Joseph Fortier.  After training, they were all stationed together at Fort Riley, Kansas.  Nichols and Fortier both left the military before McVeigh was deployed to Iraq in 1991, where he did well and was awarded the Bronze Star.  He tried out for the Army Special Forces, but ended up dropping out.  

After leaving the Army, McVeigh’s anger with the government continued to grow and he complained to any one who would listen how the government needed to be put in its place.  He read violent anti-government literature and pushed it onto others.  One such book, The Turner Diaries, had a huge impact on McVeigh and he sold copies of it at gun shows.  McVeigh also owned a book called Homemade C4, which detailed how to mix various chemicals to create powerful explosives.  Many of the chemicals in the book, such as ammonium nitrate fertilizer, align exactly with what was purchased by Terry Nichols.  McVeigh ordered the book just one month after the tragedy at Waco.  

Investigators went to question the third friend in the group, Michael Fortier, to see what he knew if anything.  He refused to cooperate, said that he believed McVeigh was innocent and acted suspiciously.  He seemed nervous and paranoid over the next few days. The FBI decided to conduct a search on his home and place a tap on his telephone.  As the pressure mounted, he and his wife finally gave in and agreed to cooperate.

Michael Fortier

Fortier explained that McVeigh and him reconnected when McVeigh visited him after the Waco tragedy, explaining that he had already gone to Waco to protest the fire and planned to go back with Nichols.    They renewed their friendship and discussed many conspiracy theories regarding the government.  McVeigh got Fortier to read anti-government books and literature and watch videos such as Waco – the Big Lie, which claimed the federal government was responsible for mass murder in Waco.  Fortier admitted that McVeigh approached him and asked if he would be willing to assist him and Nichols in a planned bombing of a federal building.  McVeigh even showed Fortier the storage unit which was full of explosives and told him they were stolen from the rock quarry in Kansas.  Fortier even knew that they used a cordless drill to do it.  Fortier’s wife Lori also knew about the plans and listened as McVeigh explained to them how he would use ammonium nitrate, sausage explosives and racing fuel to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City, describing in detail how it would occur and how he hoped it would kill as many people as possible.  

Although the Fortiers did not directly get involved with the bombing, they were far from innocent.  Lori Fortier helped laminate a fake license for McVeigh that he used to rent the truck.  Michael Fortier sold stolen guns to help finance the attack and even cased the Murrah Building with McVeigh.  Neither notified authorities of the plan, despite knowing McVeigh was completely serious and was more than likely going to carry through with the attack.  The FBI cross-checked everything they were told and it seemed the Fortiers were telling the truth.

Lori Fortier testified that she and her husband were very familiar with McVeigh's plans

A mountain of evidence had piled up against McVeigh and Nichols and they were both indicted for planning and carrying out the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, resulting in the murder of 168 innocent people.  Letters from Nichols to McVeigh were found with various instructions, one that include the phrase “go for it!” offering him support in the task of murdering hundreds of innocent people.  The investigation revealed Nichols had lied when he said McVeigh called him from Oklahoma City saying he had car trouble and needed him to come pick him up.  In reality, they drove down to Oklahoma City at the same time in order to park the yellow 1977 Mercury behind the YMCA building downtown – backing it up against the wall so it would not be obvious the license plate was missing.  The car would be used as McVeigh’s getaway car.  

Investigators tracked the whereabouts of both men as much as possible from years prior all the way up to the day of the bombing, tediously checking restaurants and motels until they would find a hit.  Oftentimes, McVeigh or Nichols even used their real names, likely seeing no way they would ever be tracked in some random motel somewhere, with the only evidence of their presence on a physical registration card.   Security footage was meticulously checked and McVeigh was caught on tape walking out of a McDonald’s near the Ryder Truck rental location the same day he picked up the truck.  He left the McDonald’s at 3:57 PM and picked up the truck at 4:49 PM.  An agent made the same walk, and the timing matched perfectly.

McVeigh at a McDonalds near the Ryder Rental location

The one piece of the puzzle that was still unclear was John Doe #2, the man who was with Timothy McVeigh to pick up the Ryder truck.  The timeline according to the whereabouts of McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier showed McVeigh should have been alone at that time.  Tens of thousands of calls came into the FBI sidetracking agents checking into dead ends.  Finally, a thorough investigation was conducted, checking into every one who rented a Ryder truck at that location around the same time McVeigh did.  It turned out a man named Michael Hertig rented a truck there the day after McVeigh and some one did accompany him – a man named Todd Bunting, who gave Hertig a ride.  Bunting looked extremely similar to John Doe #2.  Investigators had him dress in the exact same clothing and cap he wore the day they rented the truck and took photos of him, which they showed to the witness, Tom Kessinger.  Kessinger confirmed that was John Doe #2, and he had confused who he had come in the shop with.  He did not enter with McVeigh, rather with his friend Hertig the following day.  Neither Hertig nor Bunting had anything to do with the Oklahoma City bombing.  McVeigh was completely alone when he picked up the Ryder Truck.

John Doe #2, who turned out to be the innocent Todd Bunting

In the end, it was determined that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols planned and carried out the bombing, with McVeigh personally driving the truck bomb up to the Murrah Building, parking it, lighting the fuse and walking away, attempting to escape in the yellow 1977 Mercury, which Nichols helped him park in Oklahoma City on April 16th, Easter Sunday, 3 days before the bombing.  Both Nichols and McVeigh took extensive measures to obtain the materials, including the purchasing of several storage units and the contacting of various people and companies using the calling card found in Nichols’ home.  The most likely way this tragedy could have been avoided would have been through Michael Fortier or his wife Lori, who had extensive knowledge of McVeigh and Nichols’ plans but did absolutely nothing to stop them.  One anonymous phone call from a payphone would have been enough to stop the attack, but neither had the courage to do it.

A plea-bargain was cut with Fortier for his and his wife’s testimony, ensuring a conviction of McVeigh and Nichols.  He pled guilty to failing to alert authorities of a plot against the U.S. government which resulted in the deaths of 168 people, lying to federal agents, and selling stolen guns to help raise money for the attack.  They knew about the plot for 9 months and did nothing to stop it.  Lori Fortier completely avoided charges due to a provision in the plea bargain and her husband Michael was sentenced to 12 years in prison.  He was released in 2006 and put in the Witness Protection Program.

As for Terry Nichols, he was convicted of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter.  The death penalty was on the table, but the jury deadlocked and he ended up receiving a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole.  The actual sentence was the longest ever given to a single individual – 161 consecutive life terms.  He was also convicted on state charges and sentenced to life in prison.  Nichols is currently incarcerated at ADX Florence, a super maximum prison near Florence, Colorado.

Drawing of McVeigh in Court

On June 2nd, 1997, Timothy McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts including murder, destroying a federal building, and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.  He was sentenced to death.  McVeigh never showed true remorse for his actions, only saying although he was sorry people had to lose their lives, it was the nature of the beast.  In 1999, he dropped his remaining appeals.  He also said his only regret was not completely demolishing the building.  He was executed by lethal injection on June 11th, 2001, with his last meal being two pints of mint chocolate ice cream.

Thank you for checking out this blog on the extremely thorough investigation into the tragedy in Oklahoma City on April 19th, 1995.  Investigators left no stone unturned and did a phenomenal job of bringing the two men most directly responsible for this act to justice, although understandably many people were and still are angry that Michael and Lori Fortier were given so much leniency, especially Lori Fortier, who served no time at all.