McVeigh, Nichols Developed Rift Before Oklahoma Blast, Witnesses Say

In evidence that could lead to separate trials in the Oklahoma City bombing case, two key government witnesses maintain that Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols had a major falling out in the critical period between when the bomb ingredients were purchased and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was destroyed.

According to legal documents filed here since the case was moved from Oklahoma City, lead prosecutor Joseph Hartzler said that Michael and Lori Fortier were aware of a split between McVeigh and Nichols over whether to carry out the blast last April that claimed 168 lives.

“Lori Fortier testified [to a grand jury] that McVeigh was upset in early 1995 because Nichols wanted out and did not want to mix the bomb,” Hartzler wrote in a letter last month to defense attorneys.

Furthermore, he added, “Michael Fortier testified that McVeigh solicited his assistance in the bombing in early 1995 because Nichols was expressing reluctance.”

The Fortiers’ testimony about a rift between McVeigh and Nichols indicates the defense may be able to make a strong case for separate trials for the two defendants. Such requests, however, are rarely granted. If reports of the disagreement are true, the defendants could be forced to attack each other during the trial.

In a separate package of court documents unsealed on Monday, the length to which defense attorneys went to win a change-of-venue in the case became clear in hundreds of pages of requests for subpoenas.

The subpoenas were for a multitude of evidence that showed how deeply Oklahomans were affected by the bombing.

The requests were for books and magazines and government reports on the bombing, for state mental health reports on Oklahomans needing assistance, even for commercial items, such as memorial T-shirts, that were sold after the April 19 explosion.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch of Denver moved the trial here from Oklahoma City. Last week, the official court file was flown to Denver. On Monday, the court clerk’s office here unsealed the voluminous documents concerning the defense’s push for a new trial location.

The Hartzler letter, along with FBI interviews of Eldon Elliott and Vicki Beemer taken at a rental agency where, authorities say, McVeigh obtained the truck used to carry out the bombing, was filed Friday as part of a McVeigh defense motion arguing that the government is not cooperating in turning over evidence that could benefit the defense.

According to those files, U.S. Atty. Patrick Ryan of Oklahoma City initially advised the McVeigh attorneys that the FBI had collected no evidence helpful to the defense.

“In my opinion, nothing the Fortiers or Eldon Elliott or Vicki Beemer said can fairly be characterized as exculpatory of your client,” Ryan wrote McVeigh’s lead attorney, Stephen Jones, on Nov. 21.

“Nevertheless,” he added, “we will review their statements and testimony again and extract anything that is exculpatory.”

Hartzler, in his Feb. 22 letter to Jones and Ronald G. Woods, an attorney for Nichols, conceded that Fortiers’ testimony--along with that of Beemer and others--could be seen as advantageous to the defense.

“Our review,” he wrote, “indicates that the testimony of some grand jury witnesses contained information arguably favorable to your clients’ defense.”

The testimony from the Fortier couple is exceptionally significant, because they are the two most important government witnesses.

Fortier, a former Army buddy of McVeigh and Nichols, already has pleaded guilty to a limited role in the bombing case and is serving 23 years in prison--a deal struck in return for his testimony against his friends at their trial. His wife, Lori, was granted immunity from prosecution.

Their testimony also hints at the grounds on which the defense attorneys will attack the credibility of the Fortiers on the witness stand.

For instance, the Hartzler letter suggests that both Fortiers have had their own personal problems.

“She [Lori] stated that Nichols called during the first two weeks of April inquiring about a VCR that McVeigh was obtaining for him,” Hartzler wrote, a suggestion that the two men were still talking up to the time of the bombing and were planning to meet.

But, he added, “Mrs. Fortier also stated that she had used illegal drugs, including marijuana and speed, during part of this relevant period.”

As for Michael Fortier, Hartzler wrote: “Mr. Fortier admitted to having initially lied to the authorities. He also admitted to having used illegal drugs, including marijuana and speed, in early 1995.”

Also included in the court documents were recollections by Elliott and Beemer of what happened when McVeigh allegedly rented the large Ryder truck used in the bombing.

Elliott, owner of Elliott’s Body Shop in Junction City, Kan., told the FBI that McVeigh--using the alias of Robert Kling--came alone to the agency on April 15 and reserved the truck.

“Kling advised he was going to Omaha and then to Iowa, eventually returning to Omaha,” Elliott told the FBI on the day after the bombing.

“Kling was asked to pay the $80 deposit, but he advised he would go ahead and pay for the whole truck while he still had the money,” Elliott said. “Kling provided $281 in cash.”

On April 17, McVeigh and “a second individual”--who since has become known as the still-elusive John Doe No. 2--picked up the truck. Elliott said that when he tried to go over the vehicle’s damage assessment form with McVeigh, the former soldier waved him off. “No, that’s fine,” McVeigh said.

But Beemer, a bookkeeper at the rental agency, told the FBI in a separate interview on the same day that McVeigh first telephoned her on April 14.

“Kling was concerned with the weight capacity of the vehicle he wanted to rent,” she told the FBI. “And it was on that basis he chose its size.”

She added that even though she later saw him pick up the truck, she could not recall McVeigh’s face. And she said that while she recalled a second person being with him, she has “no recollection of that individual.”

Further confusing the time sequence of the truck rental is the recollection of Lea McGown, owner of the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, where McVeigh was staying before the bombing.

She told the FBI that she saw McVeigh in a Ryder truck on April 16--the day before Elliott and Beemer said the truck was actually rented.