OKC: Terry Nichols

Terry Nichols state trial goes to jury

The jury in Terry Nichols’ state murder trial got the case Tuesday after defense attorneys argued that he was set up to take the blame for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. If Nichols is convicted, the trial would move into a penalty phase where jurors would decide whether he should face the death penalty or life in prison.

For some silly reason I figured that if a man is serving a federal life sentence for involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy in the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officials in the bombing, it generally means he was convicted and sentenced? Now we’re to believe he was set up.

Set up.

Prosecutor Lou Keel said in his closing arguments that Nichols did more to gather bomb components and plan the bombing than McVeigh, who was executed in June of 2001. Prosecutors say Nichols bought the explosive ammonium nitrate fertilizer used in the bomb and stole detonation cord, blasting caps and other explosives.

But Bergman reminded jurors of dozens of witnesses who testified they saw McVeigh with others, including a stocky, dark-haired man depicted in an FBI sketch and known only as John Doe No. 2, in the weeks before the bombing. Witnesses said the others did not resemble Nichols.

And what of that dark skinned man that we never really heard anything about? Wouldn’t you think that would be a viable lead worth investigating? And yet – that little detail dropped out of the story almost as soon as the story hit the news. Conspiracy theories abound all over the place regarding OKC – and yet, wouldn’t it be easy for the feds to put the speculation to rest by simply releasing information on that dark-skinned man and why he wasn’t followed up on as a potential lead?

Chris is forever reminding me that things just aren’t as easy as they seem. But, typically, there are reasons for that. I guess I’ve never been overly satisfied with the final whys and wherefores that came out regarding the OKC bombing – - and just like JFK’s assasination, I don’t think I will ever be.

I remember where I was that day. I was in Florida on vacation. It was a great vacation – I decided that I needed time away – so during one of the kids 2 week long visits to their Dad’s over the summer, I took off on my own and spent 10 days in Florida and stayed on the beautiful Sannibel Island. I was sitting in a very nice outdoor cafe having breakfast that morning — they had the TV news on. I watched as the story broke..and it was heartbreaking. I sunburned pretty bad that day because I was so distracted in my thoughts about the whole incident…I wasn’t paying attention to how much time I was spending, pondering, out in the sun. It was an awful day for everyone in this country.