August 4, 1995
From CNN Correspondent Tony Clark
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Prosecutors face a Friday deadline to have indictments in the Oklahoma City bombing. Since April 19th, the site of the nation's worst terrorist attack has been leveled and the community has turned to healing.
Only the four-story parking garage remains. A memorial is planned to the 168 people who died there. Just two people have been charged in the bombing, former soldier Timothy Mcveigh and his friend and Army buddy, Terry Nichols.
Since the bombing, the government has built a case against Mcveigh and Nichols, with a string of witness sightings, purchases and rentals: from the rental of storage sheds to the purchase of thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate and gallons of diesel fuel. Both are components of the bomb.
And there is the Ryder truck used in the bombing, rented by a man fitting Mcveigh's description and using an alias of Mcveigh's, Bob Kling.
Nichols admits driving to Oklahoma City the weekend before the explosion to pick up Mcveigh. A pick-up, similar to Nichols' and a Ryder truck were seen at a lake outside Kansas City the day before the bombing. Authorities believe that's where the fertilizer and fuel oil were mixed to make the bomb.
A search of Nichols' home turned up plastic barrels like those in which the fertilizer and fuel oil are believed to have been mixed, as well as blasting caps and fuse cord. Authorities also found a safe deposit key and guns similar to those taken in an Arkansas robbery.
Authorities also have a 1994 letter from Nichols to Mcveigh saying in the event of Nichols' death, Mcveigh should clear out the storage sheds. Its tells Mcveigh he is on his own and to "go for it."
A federal grand jury, often meeting in secret at Tinker Air Force Base, has heard from people including Mcveigh's sister Jennifer, Nichols' former wife Lana Padilla, James Rosencrans, an acquaintance of Mcveigh's and neighbor of Michael Fortier.
Fortier himself may be indicted. Sources say he drove Mcveigh to Oklahoma City to look at the federal building and was allegedly told in advance about the bombing. He may also be tied to the robbery of An Arkansas gun dealer.
Prosecutors have been given until Friday to bring indictments in the bombing case.
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