Bomb victims remembered on Web as McVeigh trial begins

From Correspondent Charles Zewe

• 'They took my child'
• 'I miss him a lot'
• Related stories and sites

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- On a laptop computer, Marsha Kight maintains a Web site about the Oklahoma City bombing and its 168 victims. One of them was her 23-year-old daughter, Frankie Merrell.

A handful of other Web pages pay tribute to individual victims, including Merrell, a teller at the Murrah Federal Building's credit union who left behind a daughter, Morgan, now 4 years old.

"It is our intention to provide information about the April 19, 1995 bombing and the upcoming trials in Denver, Colorado," reads Kight's site, called "Families and Survivors United." "We also intend to continue this organization after the trials in order to provide support group activities for victims of this crime and others that may feel a need."

Kight also has a manuscript of an unpublished book written by victims' relatives. It's stored in her refrigerator to keep it safe from fire.

As jury selection gets under way in Denver in accused bomber Timothy McVeigh's murder and conspiracy trial, Kight and other relatives of Oklahoma City bombing victims are reliving the day nearly two years ago when their loved ones were killed.

'They took my child'

Kight, who calls the deaths a "sinister execution," plans to be in Denver for the trial's duration.

"I don't want to be on the outside, looking in," she told CNN. "They took my child."

Janet Walker, who lost her husband, David, plans to be inside an Oklahoma City auditorium to watch a closed circuit TV feed from the Denver court where McVeigh is on trial for his life.

Walker, who often visits the bomb site, doesn't want anyone to forget what happened nearly two years ago. "It wasn't just, 'Someone died that day.' People were murdered."

'I miss him a lot'

Jon Hansen also remembers that day, but from another perspective.

The Oklahoma City assistant fire chief and his crew were among the first to arrive at the Murrah building after the explosion.

Like many rescue workers who dug through rubble for days, Hansen has been changed. "It makes you appreciate how fragile life really is."

For Hansen, getting past the trial and the disaster's upcoming second anniversary are benchmarks in the healing process.

But for Walker, the tears for her husband don't stop.

"I'm told it's healthy. If it's healthy, it sure hurts. I miss him a lot."

Special sections:

• CNN - Oklahoma City Bombing Trial

• CNN - Oklahoma City Tragedy

Related stories:

• Emotions run high as McVeigh trial begins - March 30, 1997
• McVeigh moved to underground cell in courthouse - March 29, 1997
• Appeals court denies three requests to delay McVeigh trial - March 28, 1997
• McVeigh's attorney files new motion to delay trial - March 26, 1997
• Oklahoma bombing judge to let 'impact witnesses' see trial - March 25, 1997
• White supremacist novel key evidence in McVeigh trial - March 24, 1997

Related sites:

• F&S United Home Page - Families and Survivors United (Marsha Kight's Web site)
• The Names and Faces - List of Oklahoma City bombing victims
• Frankie Ann Merrell - In Memory of Frankie Merrell
• Oklahoma Remembered
• Time: Oklahoma One Year Later

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