British expert supports FBI conclusions about bomb

Prosecution to rest Wednesday

Latest development:

• Expert: building bomb 'fairly simple'

DENVER (CNN) -- A British explosives expert testified Tuesday in the Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh that, as the FBI concluded, one huge bomb containing ammonium nitrate was used in the fatal blast.

Attempts by McVeigh's attorneys to launch a broad attack on the FBI crime lab were cut short when the judge barred questions related to a highly critical Justice Department report. The defense was allowed to ask questions only about specific pieces of evidence.

The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case Wednesday with testimony from the Oklahoma City medical examiner and from a bombing survivor. Through Tuesday, the prosecution called 134 witnesses in 18 days.

The defense will not begin its case before Thursday, according to CNN sources.

Expert: building bomb 'fairly simple'

Linda Jones, with the British Ministry of Defense, was called by the prosecution for a second opinion on the federal government's conclusions. She agreed with the FBI about the size and composition of the bomb that destroyed the MurrahFederal Building April 19, 1995.

After reviewing photos, charts and other evidence, Jones said she concluded a bomb of between 3,000 and 6,000 pounds was involved. But she said she could not conclude what type of ammonium nitrate was used.

"I concluded that there was one device," Jones said. "It was in the rear cargo compartment of a Ryder truck that was parked toward the front of the building, positioned pointing toward North Robinson," in front of the building.

She said it would not be difficult to build such a large bomb.

"Provided they had a basic knowledge of explosives and access to the materials, it would be fairly simple," Jones said. "One person could do it on their own, but more people could do it quicker."

It was a calculated move by the prosecution to pick a British bomb expert to testify after the FBI's lab procedures were criticized in a government review.

Jones "has no real desire one way or the other to convict Timothy McVeigh, so her opinion is objective and without taint," said legal analyst David Japha.

McVeigh, 29, and his alleged co-conspirator Terry Nichols are charged with murder and conspiracy in the bombing. Nichols will be tried later.

Residue not found everywhere

Earlier, defense lawyer Christopher Tritico tried in cross-examination of FBI chemist Stephen Burmeister to further the defense contention that McVeigh's personal items were contaminated by investigators' mishandling.

Burmeister, who testified Monday that bomb residue was found on McVeigh's clothes and ear plugs he carried at the time of his arrest, admitted no such residue was found inside storage units the government contends McVeigh used in Kansas, Iowa and Arizona. Nor was it found in hotel rooms McVeigh used, his car, or in Nichols' Herington, Kansas home.

Burmeister conceded the FBI plane used to carry McVeigh's clothing and other evidence was not first tested for the possible presence of explosive residue. Tritico suggested that without such testing, it could not be ruled out that the residue got on the clothing while it was carried in an unsealed paper bag on the flight to the Washington lab.

Tritico also raised doubts about Burmeister's conclusion that ammonium nitrate crystals were found embedded in wooded paneling from the Ryder truck. More than a year after the testing, the crystals had disappeared.

"That piece has been through a lot of hands since the time that I inspected it," Burmeister said. "I don't know what happened."

But he said the fragile crystals, which can easily disintegrate in humid conditions, were photographed and tested long before they disappeared.

Burmeister also said he did not personally search the building debris because he was assigned elsewhere. But he said no unexploded ammonium nitrate "prills" were found in the wreckage of the structure. Prills are concentrated pellets of ammonium nitrate crystals.

Correspondent Tony Clark contributed to this report.

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