OKC Bombing Timeline: Background,investigation & Prosecution

Background/Overview

This resource provides a guide to events leading up to the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah FederalBuilding, the investigation of the crime, the arrest and the prosecution of the perpetrators.

April 1, 1955

Terry Nichols is born to Joyce and Robert Nichols in Lapeer, Michigan.

April 23, 1968

Timothy McVeigh is born to Bill and Mildred “Mickey” McVeigh in Lockport, New York.

December 15, 1968

Michael Fortier is born to Paul and Irene Fortier in Lewiston, Maine.

1973

Terry Nichols graduates from Lapeer West High School in Lapeer, Michigan.

April 20, 1985

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobaccoand Firearms (ATF), Arkansas and Missouri State Police execute asearch warrant at the 224 acre compound near Pontiac, Michigan, of aChristian Identity militia type organization called the Covenant, Swordand the Arm of the Lord. The search warrant is issued to look for andseize illegal weapons and explosives. In addition, James Ellison, thegroup’s leader, is arrested on a variety of illegal weapons and sedition

violations. After a three day stand off, the group surrenders to law enforcement officers.

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1986

Timothy McVeigh graduates from Starpoint High School in Lockport, New York.

1987

Michael Fortier graduates from Kingman High School in Kingman, Arizona.

1988

McVeigh, Fortier and Nichols enlist in the U.S. Army andmeet during basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

1990

Operation Desert Shield is the operational name of the military defense, by a 30-nation force ledby the United States, of Saudi Arabia and its oil installations following Iraq's invasion of Kuwaiton August 2, 1990.

McVeigh’s army unit, as part of the First Infantry Division, is ordered to Saudi Arabia inpreparation for Operation Desert Storm.

Operation Desert Shield ends on January 17, 1991, when, at 3:00 a.m. Saudi Arabian time, it isreplaced by Operation Desert Storm, the military offensive against Iraq’s forces in Kuwait andthousands of targets in Iraq proper.

McVeigh, a gunner on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, earns a Bronze Star for his actions in combat.

April 10, 1991

After Operation Desert Storm, McVeigh is transferred to Special Forces headquarters at CampMcCall in North Carolina to participate in Selection Assessment. He lasts only two days andreturns to Fort Riley.

May 1991

Michael Fortier is honorably discharged and moves back to Kingman, Arizona.

December 31, 1991

McVeigh leaves the U.S. Army after serving 3 years and7 months, and moves in with his father, Bill McVeigh, inLockport, New York.

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August 21, 1992

A team of U.S. Marshals attempts to arrestRandy Weaver, a white separatist and AryanNations sympathizer, on illegal weaponscharges at his remote home site near RubyRidge, Idaho. A brief shootout occurs in whicha Marshal and Weaver’s sixteen year old sonare killed. FBI teams are deployed to assist.

August 30, 1992

The nine day siege ends with the surrender of Weaver after an FBI sniper accidently shoots andkills Weaver’s wife, Vicki.

February 28, 1993

Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) raid the BranchDavidian religious sect’s 77 acre compound inWaco, Texas, which starts a 51 day siege andstandoff.

March 30, 1993

McVeigh travels to Waco to act as an anti-governmentdemonstrator and to show support for Branch Davidianleader David Koresh. Michelle Rauch, a studentreporter from Southern Methodist University,interviews McVeigh about his views of the siege. A fellow student, Lauren Aldinger, photographsMcVeigh sitting on his car selling anti-governmentbumper stickers.

April 19, 1993

Federal law enforcement agencies end the siege at the BranchDavidian compound with an assault ending in a catastrophicfire, killing more than 75 people including 20 or more children.

July 25, 1994

McVeigh is the best man at Michael and Lori Fortier’s wedding.

September 13, 1994

Timothy McVeigh begins his plot to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building.

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September 30, 1994

McVeigh and Nichols purchase the first ton of ammonium nitrate for thebomb from a farm co-op in McPherson, Kansas.

October 1, 1994

McVeigh and Nichols steal explosives from a rock quarry storage inMarion, Kansas

October 3, 1994

McVeigh and Nichols transport the stolen explosives to Kingman, Arizona

October 8, 1994

McVeigh demonstrates the bomb configuration to Michael and Lori Fortier, using soup cans toillustrate the shape of the charge.

October 18, 1994

McVeigh and Nichols purchase the second ton of ammonium nitrate in McPherson, Kansas.

October 21, 1994

McVeigh buys $2,775 worth of nitromethane racing fuel for the bomb at a Texas track.

December 16, 1994

McVeigh drives by the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and identifies it ashis target to co-conspirator Michael Fortier.

April 14, 1995

McVeigh buys his getaway car, a 1977 Mercury Marquis, at a Firestonestore in Junction City, Kansas. He checks into the Dreamland Motel,registers under the name “Tim McVeigh” and gives an address inDecker, Michigan.

April 16, 1995

McVeigh leaves the Mercury Marquis in Oklahoma City. Co-conspirator Terry Nichols drives himback to Kansas.

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April 17, 1995

McVeigh goes to Elliott’s Body Shop in Junction City,Kansas, to pick up the 20-foot Ryder truck that will holdthe bomb. He rents the vehicle using the name Robert D.Kling and claims his destination is Omaha, Nebraska.

April 19, 1995

9:02 a.m. – Truck bomb explodes in front of the Alfred P. MurrahFederal Building in Oklahoma City.

10:20 a.m. – Timothy McVeigh is arrestedduring a traffic stop on Interstate 35, nearPerry, Oklahoma, about 90 minutes afterthe bombing. Oklahoma Highway PatrolTrooper Charlie Hanger arrests McVeighon firearm charges after stopping him for driving a vehiclewithout a license plate. McVeigh is booked into the NobleCounty jail.

11:30 a.m. – The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) ofa rear axle found in front of the Regency Tower Apartments,a block away from the Murrah Building, is identified by theFBI as a Ryder rental truck from Elliott’s Body Shop inJunction City, Kansas.

Employees of Elliott’s assist FBI artist Ray Rozycki increating a sketch of the renter, who had used the alias “RobertKling,” and another man who happened to be inside the shopat the same time.

9:16 p.m. – Richard Wayne Snell is executed in Arkansas, 12 hours after the bombing of the AlfredP. Murrah Federal Building. Snell, one of the leaders of the Arkansas based extremist organizationcalled the Covenant, Sword and the Arm of the Lord, was convicted of the killings of a blackArkansas state trooper and a pawnshop owner.

April 20, 1995

Authorities release sketches of the two bombingsuspects, referred to as John Doe No. 1 and John DoeNo. 2. Lea McGown, day manager of the DreamlandMotel in Junction City, Kansas, identifies John Doe No.1 as Timothy McVeigh.

FBI agents investigating the Decker, Michigan, address given on the hotel registration card learnthat Terry Nichols has lived there and knows Timothy McVeigh, a friend he had met in the Army.

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April 19, 1995

April 21, 1995

Terry Nichols surrenders to authorities in Herington, Kansas, after learningauthorities are looking for him, and is held on a material witness warrant.

Federal agents take Terry Nichols into custody after he surrenders in Kansas.

Shortly before he is to be released from the NobleCounty Jail, McVeigh is identified as a bombing suspectand charged in the bombing. After an initial courtappearance, McVeigh is taken to the federal prison inEl Reno, Oklahoma.

FBI agents conduct searches in Kingman, Arizona, after investigative leadsreveal McVeigh and Fortier lived in that area.

April 23, 1995

Mourners gather to honor bombing victims at a churchservice at the State Fair Park in Oklahoma City. The serviceis attended by the Rev. BillyGraham, President Bill and FirstLady Hillary Clinton and AttorneyGeneral Janet Reno.

May 1, 1995

FBI agents raid McVeigh’s’ former trailer home in Kingman, and agents carry away boxes andcrates.

May 10, 1995

Terry Nichols is charged in connection with the bombing.

May 23, 1995

The remaining structure of the Murrah Building is imploded, andthe last three bodies are recovered.

June 14, 1995

Authorities admit sketches of John Doe No. 2 are of innocent Army Private Todd Bunting, at FortRiley, Kansas.

August 8, 1995

Timothy McVeigh's friend Michael Fortier and his wife Lori testify beforea grand jury.

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August 11, 1995

A federal grand jury indicts Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols on murder and conspiracy charges.

October 20, 1995

Attorney General Janet Reno authorizes prosecutors to seek the deathpenalty in the case against Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

February 20, 1996

Judge Richard Matsch moves the case against Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols toDenver. The judge sides with defense attorneys who argue that media coverage of thebombing has tainted potential Oklahoma jurors.

April 24, 1996

President Bill Clinton signs the Antiterrorism and Effective DeathPenalty Act of 1996 which among other provisions, includes habeascorpus reform modifying the death penalty appeal process.

October 25, 1996

Judge Richard Matsch rules to separate the trials for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols,concluding that trying the two together could violate their rights.

March 19, 1997

President Bill Clinton signs the Victim Rights Clarification Act of 1997 to allow victims who are potentialproviders of victim impact testimony during the sentencing phase of criminal trials to attend thetrial in Denver. A judge previously ruled that victims who could be called as witnesses would notbe allowed to sit in on the trial.

March 31, 1997

Jury selection begins in Timothy McVeigh's federal murderand conspiracy trial.

April 22, 1997

The jury is seated in Timothy McVeigh's federal trial in Denver.

April 24, 1997

Opening statements begin in Timothy McVeigh's federal trial in Denver.

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June 2, 1997

The jury finds Timothy McVeigh guilty on 11 counts, includingconspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weaponof mass destruction, destruction by explosive, and eight counts offirst-degree murder.

June 13, 1997

Timothy McVeigh is sentenced to death by lethal injection.

September 18, 1997

Jury selection begins in federal trial of Terry Nichols.

October 31, 1997

Jury is seated in federal trial of Terry Nichols.

November 2, 1997

Opening statements begin. Prosecutors introduce their caseand explain they will present evidence that Terry Nicholsconspired with Timothy McVeigh to build the bomb thatdestroyed the Murrah Building.

December 23, 1997

Terry Nichols is found guilty of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and eight countsof involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of eight federal employees. He is found not guilty ofdestruction by explosive.

January 7, 1998

The jury becomes deadlocked after spending two days deliberating Nichols' sentence. Judge Matschdismisses the jury, a decision that moves the determination of sentence to Matsch and removes thepossibility of a death sentence.

May 27, 1998

Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined $200,000 for not warning authoritiesabout McVeigh's plan to bomb the Murrah Building.

June 4, 1998

Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison without parole for his involvement with the MurrahBuilding bombing.

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March 29, 1999

Terry Nichols is charged with murder in Oklahoma District Court.

June 11, 1999

Timothy McVeigh is moved to death row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

April 19, 2000

President Bill Clinton dedicates the OklahomaCity National Memorial on the fifthanniversary of the Murrah Buildingbombing.

December 2000

McVeigh files an affidavit asking for an end to his appeals process and requests his execution datebe set within 120 days.

On December 28, McVeigh appears before U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, who rules McVeighis mentally competent and grants the request.

January 11, 2001

Timothy McVeigh waives his right to appeal a month after asking Judge Richard Matsch to setan execution date before summer. The Federal Bureau of Prisons sets May 16, 2001, as theexecution date.

February 19, 2001

President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush dedicatethe Memorial Museum.

April 12, 2001

Attorney General John Ashcroft authorizes a closed-circuit television broadcast of McVeigh'sexecution, scheduled for May 16 in Terre Haute, Indiana. More than 200 survivors and relativesof those who were killed view the remote broadcast in Oklahoma City.

April 19, 2001

A federal judge refuses to broadcast Timothy McVeigh's execution live on the Internet.

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May 11, 2001

Attorney General John Ashcroft delays McVeigh's execution until June 11 after the FBI reveals itmistakenly withheld thousands of documents from McVeigh's lawyers. Ashcroft says none of theevidence that was withheld casts doubt on McVeigh's guilt.

May 21, 2001

Timothy McVeigh asks for a stay of execution based on the FBI's announcement that thousandsof documents have been mistakenly withheld from McVeigh's lawyers.

June 6, 2001

Judge Richard Matsch denies McVeigh's Petition for Delay of Execution.

June 7, 2001

McVeigh's lawyers announce he is not going to appeal to the Supreme Court after his Petition forDelay of Execution is denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

June 11, 2001

Oklahoma City bomber TimothyMcVeigh is executed by lethal injectionat the federal prison in Terre Haute,Indiana. The execution process begins at7:00 a.m. (CDT) and authoritiespronounce McVeigh dead at 7:14 a.m.McVeigh spent the final hours before hisexecution with simple indulgences: television, sleep and two pints of ice cream, his requested finalmeal. McVeigh becomes the first federal prisoner executed in 38 years.

September 8, 2003

After pretrial motions in Oklahoma City, the state trial is moved to McAlester, Oklahoma, overconcerns that pretrial publicity could influence the jury.

March 1, 2004

District Judge Steven W. Taylor begins the state trial of Terry Nichols withselection of a jury. Nichols will be tried on 161 counts of murder in an OklahomaDistrict Court in Pittsburg County.

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March 22, 2004

Terry Nichols’ trial on state murder charges begins.

May 26, 2004

A jury convicts Terry Nichols on 161 counts of murder.

August 9, 2004

Terry Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms. He is not eligible for parole after theconviction on state murder charges. Nichols is incarcerated at ADX, the United States PenitentiaryAdministrative Maximum, commonly referred to as Supermax, in Florence, Colorado.

January 20, 2006

Michael Fortier is released from federal prison after serving 10 years of the 12 year sentence he received as part of a plea bargain that secured his testimony against TimothyMcVeigh and Terry Nichols. Fortier will be on probation for the next three years.

April 6, 2010

Governor Brad Henry signs House bill 2750, which directs the State Boardof Education to adopt a core curriculum with courses of instruction inOklahoma History for all students enrolled in the public schools thatincorporates information about the bombing of the Alfred P. MurrahFederal Building in Oklahoma City and the role it played in the history ofOklahoma and the nation from April 19, 1995, to the present.

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