The City Bombing

A Time Line

1988 Timothy McVeigh, , and Michael Fortier become friends while attending U.S. Army basic training at , Georgia. 1990 McVeigh participates in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and earns a Bronze Star. May 1991 Michael Fortier receives an honorable discharge and returns to Kingman, Arizona. He later mar- ries Lori Fortier. December 31, 1991 McVeigh leaves the army and returns to Lock- port, , where he lives with his father, Bill McVeigh. August 21, 1992 Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) lay siege to white separatist and sympathizer ’s cabin near , Idaho. After nine days, Weaver surrenders after an FBI accidentally shoots and kills his wife. February 28, 1993 ATF agents attempt to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian sect’s compound in , . An intense gun battle ensues, prompting FBI agents to initiate a 51-day siege. March 30, 1993 Toting antigovernment literature, McVeigh travels to Waco to show support for the Branch Davidi- ans. Less than a month later, on April 19, the siege ends when the FBI makes a second assault on the

| xiii compound, triggering a fire that kills more than 75 people, including at least 20 children. September 13, 1994 McVeigh begins to plot to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in , Okla- homa. By the end of 1994, McVeigh and Nichols have amassed materials to construct the bomb. October 8, 1994 McVeigh demonstrates how to construct the truck bomb in the Fortiers’ kitchen in Kingman, Arizona. April 18, 1995 McVeigh and Nichols meet at Geary Lake, , to mix the components for the bomb in barrels, which they place in a rented Ryder truck. When finished, Nichols drives home to Her- rington, Kansas. McVeigh departs for Oklahoma and spends the night in the truck. April 19, 1995 McVeigh detonates a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building at 9:02 a.m. on the anniversaries of the assaults on Ruby Ridge and Waco, killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring hundreds of others. A little more than an hour later, McVeigh is stopped for driving a vehicle without a license plate near Perry, Oklahoma; arrested on four misdemeanor charges, including unlawfully carrying a weapon, he is imprisoned in the Noble County Jail. April 20, 1995 Sketches are released for two suspects, christened John Doe No. 1 and John Doe No. 2. A motel manager in Junction City, Kansas, identifies John Doe No. 1 as Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh gave an address in Decker, Michigan, on the hotel regis- tration card; upon investigation, the FBI learns that Terry Nichols, a friend of McVeigh’s, had lived there. April 21, 1995 After hearing news reports mentioning his name in conjunction with the bombing, Terry Nich- ols surrenders in Herrington, Kansas, and is xiv | The taken into custody as a material witness. Shortly before being released from the Noble County Jail, McVeigh is identified as a bombing suspect and charged in the bombing. In a televised “,” McVeigh is escorted out of the jail and taken to a federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma. May 10, 1995 Terry Nichols is charged in the bombing. May 23, 1995 The remains of the Murrah Building are imploded and three last bodies are recovered. August 8, 1995 Michael Fortier and his wife, Lori, cooperating with federal authorities, testify before a federal grand jury. On August 11, the federal grand jury indicts McVeigh and Nichols on and charges. Attorney General later authorizes prosecutors to seek the death penalty against the two men. The grand jury indicts Fortier for four crimes. Fortier pleads guilty to helping McVeigh to move and sell stolen guns, failing to warn of the bombing plot, and deceiving FBI agents after the bombing. February 20, 1996 After attorneys for McVeigh and Nichols argue that Oklahoma media coverage of the bombing has “demonized” the defendants and prejudiced potential jurors, U.S. District Judge Robert Matsch moves their trials to , , and rules that the trials will not be broadcast back to Oklahoma City. Angry family members and survivors organize and lobby Congress for help. April 24, 1996 President signs the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), truncating the death penalty appeals process and requiring federal courts to permit a closed-circuit trial broadcast if the trial was moved more than 350 miles from its original location. June 26, 1996 Judge Matsch determines that bombing victims who could testify during McVeigh’s sentencing

A Time Line | xv must choose between testifying and attending the trial. Victims’ families and survivors, unsuccess- ful in legal appeals, again petition Congress for help. July 15, 1996 Judge Matsch upholds the closed-circuit broad- cast mandate in the AEDPA to be constitutional and later orders the broadcast to be housed in the Federal Aviation Administration Center, a large government auditorium in Oklahoma City. March 19, 1997 President Bill Clinton signs the Victim Rights Clarification Act of 1997, allowing victims who are potential impact witnesses to attend the trial. March 31, 1997 Jury selection begins in Timothy McVeigh’s federal murder and conspiracy trial. Opening statements begin on April 24, 1997. June 2, 1997 The jury finds Timothy McVeigh guilty on all 11 counts, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by , and 8 counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of eight federal employees. Witnesses for the pros- ecution include numerous family members and survivors who testify as to the bombing’s impact upon their lives. , 1997 The jury decides that McVeigh should die by . August 14, 1997 McVeigh is formally sentenced to death. September 18, 1997 Jury selection begins in Terry Nichols’s federal trial. Opening statements begin on November 2, 1997. December 23, 1997 The jury finds Nichols guilty of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and eight counts of involuntary in the deaths of eight federal employees, but not guilty of destruc- tion by explosive. In January 1998, after the jury xvi | The Oklahoma City Bombing deadlocks following two days’ deliberation, Judge Matsch dismisses the jury, removing the possibil- ity of a death sentence. May 27, 1998 Fortier is sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and fined $200,000 for not warning authorities about the bombing plot as part of a plea bargain that secured his testimony against McVeigh and Nichols. His wife, Lori, remains free. June 4, 1998 Judge Matsch sentences Nichols to life in prison without parole. March 29, 1999 Nichols is charged with murder in Oklahoma District Court. , 1999 McVeigh is moved to death row at the Federal Correctional Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana. April 19, 2000 President Bill Clinton dedicates the Oklahoma City National Memorial on the fifth anniversary of the bombing. December 13, 2000 McVeigh files an affidavit requesting that his appeals be ended and that an execution date be set within 120 days. Finding McVeigh mentally competent, Judge Matsch grants his request. January 11, 2001 The Federal Bureau of Prisons sets May 16, 2001, as McVeigh’s execution date. February 19, 2001 President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush dedicate the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum. April 12, 2001 Attorney General authorizes a closed-circuit broadcast of McVeigh’s execution in Oklahoma City and expands the number of live witnesses from eight to ten. May 11, 2001 The FBI reveals that it mistakenly withheld thou- sands of documents that it should have turned over to McVeigh’s defense lawyers. Attorney General Ashcroft postpones McVeigh’s execution

A Time Line | xvii until June 11, 2001. McVeigh initially requests a stay of execution, which is denied. June 11, 2001 McVeigh is pronounced dead at 7:14 a.m., executed by lethal injection at the Federal Cor- rectional Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana. Ten family members and survivors chosen by lottery witness the execution live in Terre Haute, and 232 family members and survivors witness via closed- circuit broadcast back in Oklahoma City. March 1, 2004 Jury selection begins in Nichols’s state trial, with District Court Judge Steven Taylor of Oklahoma presiding. Nichols is charged with 161 counts of murder. The trial begins on March 22, 2004. May 26, 2004 A jury convicts Nichols on all 161 counts of murder. August 9, 2004 Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms and is transferred to ADX, a in Florence, Colorado. January 20, 2006 Michael Fortier is released from federal prison after serving 10 years of his 12-year sentence. April 6, 2010 Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma signs into law legislation directing the State Board of Educa- tion to adopt a core curriculum in Oklahoma history, including information about the bombing and the role it has played in the history of Okla- homa and the United States.

xviii | The Oklahoma City Bombing