but at the last minute, terry nickels, like michael fortee bails out. as time grew near to the time of the bombing, nickles got cold feet. he decided he didn t want to do that, and decided that was going too far. mcveigh screamed at him, threatened him, may have threatened to kill him. on the morning of april 19th, mcveigh now on his own drives the ryder truck into oklahoma city. at 8:57 a.m., security cameras at the reeg si tower apartment building catch the ryder truck parked across the street. investigators surmise this is when mcveigh lights the first fuse. a few minutes later, mcveigh moves the truck up, lights the second fuse and parks on the north side of the murrah building.
on april 19th, the branch compound is engolfed by fire. at least 76 men, women and children die during the infur know. mcveigh told us that he was convinced that the u.s. government purposely murdered women and children at the waco compound. it was all part of an effort to destroy gun rights in america. the triggers moment was waco. he was there, and he decided that the government had gone too far. he was going to start his own war. and the first strike would be aimed at the heart of the country. for mcveigh and his army buddy terry nickles, targeting a government building was dramatic and symbolic. they chose the alfred p. murrah that housed 14 agencies, the
outside the courthouse in denver, tears, smiles, and all emotions in between. later that year, on december 24th, terry nichols is also convicted. he is currently serving life at the federal supermax prison in colorado. for cooperating, michael fortier receives a 12-year sentence. he is now part of the witness protection program. people are going to remember timothy mcveigh as a murderer. not a martyr. on june 11 n, 2001, him think mcveigh is put to death at the federal correctional complex in terre haute, indiana. timothy james mcvay has been executed by lethal injection. it is the first federal execution in 38 years. mcveigh even at the point he was being executed, never flinched, never changed his mind.
on august 10th, 1995 a federal grand jury charges timothy mcveigh and terry nickels with 11 criminal counts, including eight counts of murder. that figure is based upon the number of federal law enforcement officials killed in the blast. on april 24th, 1997, two years after the bombing, mcveigh s trial begins in denver, colorado. the prosecution presents first, and lays out a timeline of events that led up to the bombing. by mid 1994, mcveigh and nickels, along with their army friend michael fortee were pleadty to put their plan into action. mcveigh decided the most effective weapon would be a truck bomb. in september 1994, mcveigh and nickels begin stockpiing amoment
in his distorted view, his actions were a response to violence perpetrated to the government by his people. defense attorney steven jones knew a necessity case was unwinnable so he chose a different course, arguing that mcveigh was only part of a much larger conspiracy. the greatest mystery of the oklahoma city bombing case is who else, besides tim mcveigh, terry nickels and michael fortier were involved because there were most assuredly others. there was a man reportedly seen with mcveigh at the truck rental company. known as john doe number two, the description did not fit nickles or michael fortier. they concluded he didn t exist. the gentleman fit john doe