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McVeigh wasn't given key facts

Letter to Ashcroft alleging testimony by lab witness was false didn't reach defense.

By John Solomon

The Associated Press

May 1, 2003

WASHINGTON -- Ten days before Timothy McVeigh was executed, lawyers for FBI lab employees sent an urgent letter to the attention of Attorney General John Ashcroft alleging that a key prosecution witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trial might have given false testimony about forensic evidence.

The allegations involving Stephen Burmeister, now the FBI lab's chief of scientific analysis, were never turned over to McVeigh, though they surfaced as a judge was weighing whether to delay his execution because the government withheld evidence.

The letter was recently given to bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, who faces another trial on Oklahoma state murder charges.

"Material evidence presented by the government in the OKBOMB prosecution through the testimony of Mr. Burmeister appears to be false, misleading and potentially fabricated," said the June 1, 2001, letter to Ashcroft obtained by The Associated Press.

The letter cited Burmeister's testimony in a civil case as evidence contradicting his earlier McVeigh testimony. It was sent to Ashcroft's general fax number and by courier with the notation "URGENT MATTER FOR THE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL."

Justice officials said Wednesday the letter was routed to Ashcroft's clerical office in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, where it sat for nearly two months and then was forwarded to the FBI -- well after McVeigh was executed on June 11, 2001, at the federal penitentiary near Terre Haute, Ind.

Neither Ashcroft nor other top officials in the Justice Department who handled the McVeigh case saw it, spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said. It was never reviewed to determine if it should be handed over to McVeigh's lawyers, officials said.

Prosecutors are obligated by law to disclose any potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.

McVeigh's lawyers expressed dismay at the revelation. At the time the letter was sent, a judge had delayed McVeigh's execution by a month because of other evidence the FBI failed to turn over.

"It is truly shocking and just the latest revelation of government conduct that bankrupts the prosecution, investigation and verdict," said Stephen Jones, McVeigh's lead trial attorney.

Title: District judge steps down from Nichols' case
Source: Daily Oklahoman
URL Source: http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=951096&pic=none&TP=getcc
Published: Nov 23, 2002
Author: Nolan Clay

The case against Terry Nichols was thrown back into limbo Friday when his judge withdrew from overseeing the preliminary hearing.
District Judge Ray Dean Linder stepped down after 27 months on the case.

"I think I've expended all the effort I can," said Linder, 67, of Alva. "I am very, very relieved."
The preliminary hearing is set to begin Feb. 3 but the judge's departure means another delay is likely.
First, a new judge willing to take the case will have to be found by the state Supreme Court's chief justice.
The next judge will need time to catch up on the legal issues that must be resolved before testimony can begin.
Prosecutor Lou Keel put off plans to subpoena witnesses after Linder's surprise announcement.
Nichols, 47, was convicted at a federal trial of the conspiracy to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building and the involuntary manslaughter of eight federal agents.
His state case is over the 160 others who died as a result of the 1995 attack.
Linder was not specific about his reasons in his public comments in court and afterward with reporters.
However, he told a prosecutor and defense attorney privately that he was stepping down in part because of his wife's knee-replacement surgery.
He told reporters, "I had just gotten worn to the point that I was afraid I would make a mistake that would jeopardize one side or the other's right to a fair resolution."
He also noted that he is the presiding judge of 19 counties and people with cases there "deserve attention, too."
Linder took over after the first judge assigned to the preliminary hearing was disqualified for ethical reasons.
One of Linder's first decisions was to remove Bob Macy, then the district attorney, from the case for prejudicial remarks.
In another key decision, he later refused to dismiss Nichols' case on "double-jeopardy" grounds.
Nichols had argued he could not be tried in state court because of his federal conviction.
Linder's announcement upset victims and prosecutors who have grown weary of the delays.
"How can he do this?" widow Diane Leonard asked afterward.
In a statement, District Attorney Wes Lane said, "Whereas I have the upmost respect for Judge Linder, I wish we would have known this a year ago. ... This case has taken far too long to get to a preliminary hearing."
Lane also said, "I hope that a new judge will be appointed quickly so that we can have a preliminary hearing as soon as possible."
At a preliminary hearing, a judge decides whether prosecutors have enough evidence for trial.
In his final act, Linder approved $134,287 in defense bills.
The judge ruled lead defense attorney Brian Hermanson will be paid $185 an hour for his time and overhead.

Supreme Court jump starts Nichols case
2002-10-28
Nolan Clay
The Oklahoman

The state Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the case against Terry Nichols to continue by resolving a dispute over defense funding.
"What this means is that we should see this case getting back on track," Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said.

Justices - in a two-page ruling - put Terry Nichols' preliminary hearing judge in charge of overseeing defense expenses.

Justices also required defense bills to be submitted "in sufficient detail" to allow Judge Ray Dean Linder to determine whether they are reasonable.

Nichols, 47, was convicted at a federal trial of conspiracy to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building and the involuntary manslaughter of eight federal agents. His state case is over the 160 others who died as a result of the 1995 attack.

Justices had ruled on the funding dispute July 2, but stepped in again because Nichols' attorneys were at odds with Oklahoma County's presiding judge, Dan Owens.

Defense attorneys had called Owens "hostile" to funding Nichols' case. Owens, in turn, complained the defense bills were too vague to pay.

The decision Monday takes away Owens' oversight of the defense bills. Justices did not explain their reasoning for the switch.

Defense attorneys have spent $1.7 million so far.

Linder will stay in control of the defense bills until after the preliminary hearing. Responsibility will then go to the judge in charge of the trial.

Defense bills are paid out of the Oklahoma County court fund - a collection of fines, fees and forfeitures in civil, traffic and criminal cases.

June 17, 2002
AFTERMATH OF TERROR

Conspiracy Buffs See Similarities
Between Jose Padilla, John Doe 2

By JAY KRALL and JONATHAN EIG
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy, Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln, and Terry Lynn Nichols had a wife named Padilla.

The latter bit of news has put conspiracy theorists on heightened alert.

For years, a small, devoted group has been trying to prove that the nation's second-deadliest terrorist attack -- on the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City -- was carried out not just by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols but also by a vast network of Muslim extremists.

Such claims won little attention, and even ardent advocates say they had all but given up the cause. But when Jose Padilla was accused of plotting to detonate a so-called dirty bomb and his photo appeared in newspapers and on television, members of a hard-core group of conspiracy theorists did double-takes.

"I thought, boy, he looks a lot like the John Doe 2 sketches," said Charles Key, a former state representative from Oklahoma who leads a private group called the Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee.

The FBI, which isn't taking these claims seriously, now says that John Doe 2 probably never existed. But he was once a prime suspect in the April 19, 1995, bombing when a Ryder truck filled with nearly 5,000 pounds of fertilizer and fuel oil blew up, killing 168 people.

Witnesses at the time said they remembered seeing two men at the Ryder truck-rental outlet in Junction City, Kan., where investigators traced the rented vehicle. Two men were also reportedly seen eating at a Denny's restaurant in Junction City five days before the attack. One of the men is believed to have been Mr. McVeigh. The other was never identified and never found.

John Doe 2 was the subject of an intensive manhunt. Authorities offered a $2 million reward on his head. The FBI described him as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10. His sketch, released by the FBI the day after the bombing, shows dark hair swept straight back, strong eyebrows, a square jaw and a powerful neck. Mr. Padilla, who is Hispanic, appears to have a more rounded jaw, but his other features closely match those of the sketch.

FBI sketch of John Doe 2 (top); Jose Padilla

Still, FBI officials dismiss talk of any likeness. "We couldn't find any evidence to indicate there was a John Doe 2 despite what people were saying," said one FBI official. As for the Padilla link, he said, "You're kidding, right?"

Bryan Preston, a writer and TV producer in Towson, Md., was watching a call-in news show last week when a caller mentioned a resemblance between Mr. Padilla and John Doe 2. Mr. Preston dug up the old police sketch of John Doe 2 and posted it on his personal Web site. "I've never bought into conspiracy theories," Mr. Preston says, "but I can't help but thinking maybe there's more to the story here."

Since Mr. Padilla's arrest, others who suspect a connection have scoured the Internet, books about the bombing and media reports about Mr. Padilla for clues linking him to the Oklahoma City bombing. For some, the fact that Mr. Padilla, born in New York and raised in Chicago, appears to have been in the U.S. and out of jail at the time of the bombing is enough cause for suspicion. Some say they just don't believe Messrs. McVeigh and Nichols acted alone.

Mr. Key says members of his committee will soon begin asking witnesses who say they saw John Doe 2 to look at photos of Mr. Padilla. American Politics Journal posted the sketch and photos of Padilla to their Web site without comment. A spokesman for the political journal said the publication had no official position on the question, but placed the photos and sketches on their site for readers to draw their own conclusions.

In Tampa, Fla., radio talk-show host Glenn Beck noted the resemblance on his show last week and posted a story about it at his Web site asking listeners if they think Mr. Padilla could have been involved with the Oklahoma City bombing. Almost 70% said yes.

Stephen R. Jones, Mr. McVeigh's attorney, has spoken often of his attempts to prove his client was part of a broader conspiracy, although Mr. McVeigh himself denied it. While preparing their case, members of Mr. Jones's team traveled several times to the Philippines, where Mr. Nichols had visited, to research possible contacts he may have had with foreign terrorists, including associates of Osama bin Laden.

Mr. Jones says his client didn't cooperate in that investigation but that Mr. McVeigh was so adamant in refusing to point fingers that it raised Mr. Jones's suspicions. After his conviction, Mr. McVeigh reportedly told authors researching a book about the bombing that he planted the explosives to teach the government a lesson. Mr. McVeigh, who was executed on June 11, 2001, never named accomplices.

Then there's the detail that so tantalizes many conspiracy theorists: Lana Padilla is the former wife of Mr. Nichols, charged as Mr. McVeigh's accomplice and sentenced to life in prison.

Ms. Padilla laughed when a local television talk show called to ask her about the matching names. She says she's never met Jose Padilla and isn't related to him.

But she, too, believes there was a larger conspiracy at work. After the bombing, she gave police a letter she received in 1994 from Mr. Nichols before one of his trips to the Philippines. In the letter, she says, he suggested he was "afraid of something or somebody." Ms. Padilla speculates he was worried he might be harmed if he identified his co-conspirators.

The more she looks at the mug shots, the more intrigued she becomes. "At first I found it funny," she says. "Now I think we should investigate this."

-- Gary Fields contributed to this article.

Write to Jay Krall at jason.krall@wsj.com2 and Jonathan Eig at jonathan.eig@wsj.com3

Visit www.okcbombing.org for complete information

press release

John Michael Johnston                 Attorney at Law

    228 Robert S. Kerr Blvd. Suite 620, Courtplaza, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102   (405) 235-4074

PRESS RELEASE                               Do Not Release Before

                                                                           10 AM, Central 4-19-02

     (Oklahoma City) Everyone knows what happened in Oklahoma City at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. However, only a handful of people know that on that very day someone other than Tim McVeigh or Terry Nichols confessed to being involved in the terrorist bombing plot that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City.

Abdul Hakim Murrad was a Federal prisoner at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. He was awaiting trial for his part in a plot to blow up a dozen 747 airliners in the South Pacific. He announced to his jailers, (and later told the FBI), the Oklahoma City bombing had been orchestrated by his former roommate in the Philippines Ramsey Youssef. Youssef was the most wanted terrorist in the world until his capture in Pakistan in February,1995. Ramsey Youssef had been the mastermind behind the first World Trade Center attack in January of 1993.

   Why should Murrad be believed? For one thing, Murrad made his confession voluntarily and spontaneously. Most important, Murrad tied Ramsey Youssef to the OKC bombing long before Terry Nichols' was publicly identified as a suspect. How could Murrad have known that eventually Terry Nichols would become a defendant? Or, for that matter, that Terry Nichols had recently spent a great deal of time in the Philippines, especially Cebu City, during the precise times that Murrad and Youssef were also there. How could Murrad have known that Nichols phone records would show 13 unidentified calls from Kansas to the Philippines during the period of early April 1995, in the days prior to the Bombing?

   On the 7^th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, a number of the victims of the Murrah Building tragedy wish to begin the process of informing the American people of an ever growing mountain of evidence implicating the State of Iraq. This evidence will show that the Republic of Iraq and Saddam Hussein were involved in funding and planning the Oklahoma City bombing.

    Perhaps even more alarming is the realization that certain elements of the United States government must have known about this foreign involvement all along. Indeed, in a recent Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking to obtain relevant information concerning John Doe II and the OKC bombing, Federal Judge Wayne Alley observed in written orders ( June/July 2001) that, The FBI had maintained a shroud of secrecy around the entire bombing case since 1995. Ignoring substantial evidence of a major international terrorist offensive, conceived and planned in the Philippines sometime between 1991 and 1994, which produced tragic consequences of its own.

       In ignoring the Youssef inspired plan, Code named Project Bojinka or Big Boom, the FBI created a situation that resulted in less than complete justice for the victims of the OKC bombing.

     Perhaps even more significant is the refusal to thoroughly investigate evidence of foreign involvement in the Oklahoma City Bombing resulted in a failure to anticipate the eventual execution of the most horrific part of the Project Bojinka plans. Specifically, other major terrorist acts were revealed on Ramsey Youssefs lap top computer, which was seized by Philippine authorities in January 1995, as Abdul Hakim Murrad was arrested. The most devastating of these new terrorist actions manifested itself on September 11, 2001, in New York City, Washington DC and the countryside of western Pennsylvania at a cost of almost 4,000 American civilian dead.

(The preceding statement will be presented at a press conference to be held by Mr. Johnston, several of the OKC bombing victims and others on April 19, 2002, at 10 AM Central time. The event will be hosted at the Christ-Averting-His-Eyes memorial located on the corner of 5th and Harvey, just west of the Federal bombing memorial site. The press conference will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the memorial service.)