January 30, 1996From Correspondent Tony Clark and wire reports
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, suspects in last year's deadly bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, were back in court Tuesday for the start of a hearing to determine where their trial will be held.
The suspects were driven to court this morning from the county jail in Oklahoma City. (358 QuickTime movie)
Defense lawyers hope to have the trial moved out of state, claiming widespread publicity about the terrorist act makes it impossible to get an impartial jury in Oklahoma. San Francisco and Charleston, West Virginia, have been mentioned as possible trial sites.
Witness lists for the hearing suggest that prosecutors will not defend Oklahoma City as a trial site, concentrating instead on Lawton, about 90 miles southwest of the bombing, and Tulsa, about 90 miles northeast.
"I want to know why"
-- Diane Leonard
Diane Leonard, who lost her husband in the April 19 bombing, wants the trial held in Oklahoma. Donald Leonard was a Secret Service agent and one of the 169 people killed. Holding back tears, his widow told CNN the words "joy" and "happiness" have left her vocabulary, "replaced with words like murder, trauma and post-traumatic stress." (238K AIFF sound or 238K WAV sound)
The sense of loss and the need to understand is why Leonard and many like her want to be in court on May 17 when the trial is scheduled to begin.
"I want to know why," she said. "The importance of hearing all of the evidence is monumental to those of us who want to be there. It will enable us to go on with our lives."
Leonard sat through a federal court hearing on the case last month -- the first time she saw McVeigh and Nichols in person. McVeigh seemed too at ease for someone accused of mass murder, Leonard said, adding she was "bothered by his nonchalant attitude." (162K AIFF sound or 162K WAV sound)
On Monday night, McVeigh and Nichols were brought from the federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma, to the county jail in Oklahoma City. They will be housed there during the four days the hearing is expected to last. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch of Denver will preside.
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