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| S P E C I A L | The Terry Nichols Trial |
Phone records, map introduced in Nichols trial
Prosecutors try to build circumstantial case
November 14, 1997
Web posted at: 10:29 p.m. EST (0329 GMT)DENVER (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors in the trial of Terry Nichols continued to methodically introduce circumstantial evidence Friday in an effort to link him to the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.
Among the items introduced was a handmade map which an FBI agent testified was found in Nichols' garbage. CNN has learned that the prosecution will argue that the map shows a getaway route from the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, which was devastated by a bomb blast on April 19, 1995.
Nichols is charged with murder and conspiracy in connection with that bombing -- the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil -- which killed 168 people. His alleged co-conspirator, Timothy McVeigh, has already been convicted and sentenced to die.
Friday, the prosecution introduced more phone records that they claim show Nichols was conducting an extensive search for bomb components. They also used phone records and testimony to link Nichols with McVeigh.
Attempt to get racing fuel recounted
David Darlak, a high school friend of McVeigh, testified that McVeigh called him in the fall of 1994, asking if he knew where to get some racing fuel. Phone records showed that the call was made from Nichols' house.
During McVeigh's trial, the prosecution traced McVeigh's efforts to buy racing fuel to boost the power of the truck bomb.
Darlak admitted Friday he never met Nichols.
Timothy Chambers, a fuel salesman at a Texas racetrack, testified that in October 1994, he sold 54 gallons of racing fuel to a man who looked like an "opossum." While Chambers said the buyer was not Nichols, he said the fuel was loaded into a pickup truck with a camper shell. Nichols owned such a vehicle.
During McVeigh's trial, Chambers identified the customer as McVeigh.
Defense attorneys conceded that Nichols registered in a motel in southern Oklahoma the day before that sale was made. The motel was 170 miles from the racetrack.
Robbery victim to take stand next week
Friday, jurors saw plastic barrels and explosives that were found at Nichols' Kansas home after the blast, as well as two safety deposit box keys, 16 guns and silver and gold coins.
The prosecution is expected to argue that those guns, keys and coins were taken during a robbery of Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore -- and that it was Nichols who robbed Moore in an effort to finance the bomb plot.
Moore is set to testify next week. Nichols attorneys are expected to portray that alleged robbery as a hoax and try to link Moore to McVeigh.
Jurors also heard dramatic testimony Friday from Florence Rogers, the head of the Federal Employees Credit Union in the Murrah building. Eighteen of her 33 employees died in the blast.
"Suddenly, I was thrown from my chair to the floor in a tornado-like rush," she said. "There was just space ... There was no floor left. My desk had disappeared."
Asked if she saw her staff, she answered, "They all disappeared."
Correspondent Tony Clark contributed to this report.
T H E B O M B I N G / C N N S T O R I E S / L I N K S
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