Bombing Investigators Find, Question ‘John Doe No. 2’ : Probe: Authorities believe that unidentified man had nothing to do with Oklahoma City attack, sources say.

After two months of investigation, federal authorities believe that they have identified the “John Doe No. 2” in the Oklahoma City bombing case--but that he probably had nothing to do with the attack, The Times learned Tuesday.

Investigators located and questioned the man several days ago--but rather than finding a leading accomplice of bombing suspect Timothy J. McVeigh, sources close to the case say, they apparently have an innocent man who happened to be at a Kansas truck-rental firm at the same time as McVeigh. The descriptions of John Doe No. 1, now identified by investigators as McVeigh, and John Doe No. 2 came from a rental agent at the firm.

Investigators are now conducting final checks on their conclusion and, unless unexpected new evidence develops, plan to announce their findings soon.

One source said investigators “have to be absolutely certain” before making any announcement, apparently referring to highly publicized occasions when the FBI caught and questioned other John Doe No. 2 suspects, only to find they were not involved in the bombing.

If the man now identified as the elusive second suspect is ultimately cleared, the finding would bring a strange and anticlimactic ending to one of the most-storied manhunts of U.S. criminal history.

The “clearing” of John Doe No. 2 would also further underscore an emerging shift in investigators’ theory of the case: that the bombing attack on the federal building here may well have been the work of two central conspirators rather than the four to 10 active conspirators initially thought to be involved.

However, government sources also cautioned that they are still keenly interested in the activities of other “peripheral suspects”--those other than defendants McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols.

These include Michael Fortier, who reportedly told authorities he helped case the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building with McVeigh; James D. Nichols, who as early as 1988 allegedly discussed bombing the Oklahoma City building; and McVeigh’s sister, Jennifer, who has been rigorously interrogated by the FBI.

John Doe No. 2 had been described as one of two men who went to a Junction City, Kan., rental agency and rented the Ryder truck that authorities say was used to carry the bomb to Oklahoma City. Investigators quickly identified John Doe No. 1 as McVeigh.

But the second man remained a mystery, and sketches based on the rental agent’s descriptions have circulated nationwide since then.

The Times could not determine where the man was finally found by authorities. However, after weeks of leads on McVeigh acquaintances turned up nothing, it is known that authorities took the sketches to Ft. Riley, Kan., on the chance that he might have been one of many soldiers who come to the agency to rent trucks when they move.

Sources close to the investigation said the second man was standing in the back at the rental agency--Elliot’s Body Shop in Junction City--while McVeigh rented the truck two days before the bombing.

They said the man did not speak, and it was unclear whether he left with McVeigh or before the bombing suspect departed with the Ryder truck. It also was unclear how McVeigh got to the rental agency, but sources said he could easily have walked there from the Dreamland Motel, where he was staying at the time.

The rental agent, Bob Elliot, later helped authorities put together two composite sketches. One perfectly matched McVeigh. The other shows a lantern-jawed man in a baseball cap. Elliot has refused to discuss the incident with the press.

McVeigh’s attorneys have complained to the federal court here that the FBI will not let them speak with Elliot. “He’s been directed by the FBI not to talk,” defense attorney Robert Nigh Jr. said Tuesday.

Nigh and some defense investigators also said it has become increasingly apparent to them that John Doe No. 2 never was a conspirator or active participant in the bombing.

Nigh said, for instance, that defense investigators have talked to several people in the Junction City area who said they can identify the man depicted in the second composite drawing.

“We’ve talked to people who say they’ve seen John Doe No. 2,” Nigh said. “They’ve seen him around Junction City.”

He declined to elaborate, and he would not divulge what McVeigh has told him and other defense attorneys about the existence of a John Doe No. 2 who might have been involved.

As investigators questioned the likely John Doe No. 2, authorities continued sifting through the evidence they have gathered. A federal judge on Monday granted the government another two months, until Aug. 11, to continue to present evidence to a federal grand jury here before obtaining an indictment against McVeigh. A similar timetable is expected to be approved by the court later this week for Terry Nichols.

In requesting the additional grand jury time, prosecutors said the brunt of their uncompleted work is technical in nature.

“While the investigation has been intense and vigorous, much remains to be done,” prosecutors said in court papers.

“Records of more than 100,000 phone calls have been analyzed, but tens of thousands more await analysis,” prosecutors said. “Agents are in the process of analyzing thousands of business records.”

They said “hundreds of pieces of evidence” found in the bombing debris still await analysis. They said “approximately 7,720 pounds” of evidence have been collected and are now being reviewed.

Nigh and other defense sources suggested that the government has not been able to widen the alleged conspiracy beyond McVeigh and Terry Nichols. They argue that the government actually wants to use the two months to firm up its case and then will demand that the defense adhere to rules for a speedy trial. The defense will be hurt by the delay, they said, because defense attorneys are barred from obtaining government evidence until after an indictment is returned.

In a separate action Tuesday, attorneys for McVeigh asked the court to order that all future hearings for their client be held in a federal courtroom instead of the Federal Correctional Institute in El Reno, Okla., where he is being held.

Stephen Jones, the lead attorney for McVeigh, argued that the government has created a negative public opinion about McVeigh by not allowing him to appear in a normal courtroom as a defendant presumed to be not guilty. Instead, Jones said, McVeigh is portrayed as a convicted felon incarcerated with other prisoners.

The government did not respond to the defense allegations.

In a related development, additional information became public Tuesday about James Nichols’ alleged 1988 statements about blowing up a federal building in Oklahoma City. Nichols was released May 23 by U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman, despite objections from federal prosecutors. He is under indictment on explosives charges not directly related to the Oklahoma bombing.

According to an affidavit by FBI agent Arthur R. Baker, a confidential informant said James Nichols told him on Dec. 22 or 23, 1988, that a “megabomb” capable of leveling a building could be built and that Nichols then referred specifically to a federal building in Oklahoma City.

Nichols then searched unsuccessfully for a news clipping showing the building but instead drew a diagram of the structure, which “was similar to the construction of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,” Baker said in the affidavit.

The affidavit was among papers unsealed Monday in response to a suit brought by the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

Serrano reported from Oklahoma City and Ostrow from Washington.