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| S P E C I A L | The Terry Nichols Trial |
Plastics expert links bomb shards, Nichols' barrels
November 26, 1997
Web posted at: 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 GMT)DENVER (CNN) -- Fragments of plastic recovered from a rooftop across the street from the Oklahoma City federal building match the plastic in barrels found at Terry Nichols' home, according to a prosecution expert who testified Wednesday.
Tony Tikuisis, a chemist with the Nova Chemical Co., said both the fragments and the barrels included a chemical unique to plastics made by the Smurfit Plastic Packaging Co.
Federal prosecutors contend the fragments, blown onto the nearby roof by the force of the explosion that devastated the federal building, came from barrels used in a truck bomb built by Nichols and convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh.
They are expected to call other witnesses to link four plastic barrels found in Nichols' home to Smurfit.
A L S O :
Nichols trial transcripts
During his cross examination, defense lawyer Michael Tigar attempted to establish that the chemical composition of the plastic shards found near the bomb scene could match plastic in many types of barrels.
Theodore Udell, who designs barrels for Smurfit Plastic Packaging, told Tigar that 700,000 of the barrels in question had been manufactured since 1992. Udell said that, at the request of the FBI, he surveyed other barrel manufacturers to determine whether Smurfit's plastic formula was unique and discovered that it was.
Barrels found in Nichols' home Tigar asked Udell if manufacturers in the highly competitive industry were being honest with him about the uniqueness of the formula.
"I felt very strongly they were telling me the truth," Udell said. However, he also testified that some of the plastic pieces given him by FBI agents for comparison did not match Smurfit barrels.
Nichols, 42, is charged with murder and conspiracy in connection with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The blast killed 168 people.
McVeigh has been convicted on the same charges and sentenced to death.
The trial will recess Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. The prosecution is expected to call three more witnesses Friday before resting its case.
Correspondent Tony Clark contributed to this report.
T H E N I C H O L S T R I A L / T H E M c V E I G H T R I A L
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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