Numerous witnesses reported seeing convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh with other unidentified men and were interviewed about what they had seen by the FBI, yet they were never called to testify in McVeigh's 1997 trial, says a new report.
Former Oklahoma state Rep. Charles Key, whose Oklahoma City Bombing Investigation Commission is set to release a 500-page report on its investigation of the April 19, 1995, bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 people, says the number of witnesses who said they saw McVeigh with other "John Does" increased after the FBI released composite sketches of the men.
The report, portions of which have been made available exclusively to WorldNetDaily, says the witnesses reported seeing unidentified men with McVeigh "prior to, or after the bombing."
"Because many of them were brought to Denver for the federal trials, they expected to be called to testify," the report said. "However, most of them were not."
Early sightings
The report, which only identified witnesses by their initials, said a realtor in Cassville, Mo., received a telephone call from an individual identifying himself as Timothy McVeigh in July 1994.
The caller was interested in "a remote parcel of land that was for sale in the Ozarks," said the report.
That witness and another realtor were in their office in November 1994 when three men arrived. Two came into the office; the third remained in the car outside.
"One of the men who acted as spokesman identified himself as Robert Jacques and said, 'I just go by Jacks,'" the witnesses told the commission. "The second man used the name 'Terry Nichols.'"
Later, the report said the realtor "stated that he saw a noticeable [dental] filling in the mouth of the man in the car; the FBI later confirmed that that was a characteristic of McVeigh," said the report. The other realtor confirmed those observations, the commission said.
Early in 1995, another witness said he saw McVeigh "and others" at a local convenience store and diner in Herington, Kan., "on several occasions." At one point, the witness said he overheard the men discuss the type of truck needed "to transport and make a truck bomb." The witness reported that one of the men in the group even asked him, "What kind of truck would you use to make a truck bomb?" the report said.
Composite suspect drawings
Composite drawings of suspects, which were released the day after the bombing, on April 20, elicited a number of witnesses, the commission said.
Those witnesses, the commission said, included an employee of a local bar in Junction City, Kan., who reported playing pool with McVeigh and "John Doe No. 2."
The same witness said he saw both men the week before the bombing at a bar and a convenience store, while a separate witness -- a "food mart employee" -- saw "both men on several occasions talking within the two months prior to the bombing when they purchased gas from her."
Another woman reported seeing McVeigh and another man dressed as janitors in the Murrah building before the bombing, while another said McVeigh "and two individuals visited his office in the Murrah Building in late March or early April 1995."
"McVeigh stated that they were veterans looking for construction work," the report said.
During the week of April 7-14, 1995, another witness "was in a bar in Dwight, Kan., when a local acquaintance of his arrived with McVeigh. His acquaintance told him to, 'Look for something big to happen on the 19th,'" said the commission's report.
"Three other individuals arrived and met with McVeigh and his companion," while one of the men, the witness said, "resembled Robert Jacques."
A Housing and Urban Development employee also told the commission that she witnessed "three men in the Murrah Building parking garage," whom she "thought … were telephone company employees since they held cream-colored wiring and were discussing a set of what she presumed were building plans."
The commission said three other witnesses "came forward to tell of seeing a Ryder truck at Geary Lake, just south of Junction City, Kan., during the week of April 10-14, 1995. They stated that at times, a brown pickup truck and another car were also parked there."
Geary Lake is where the FBI has alleged that the truck bomb was mixed.
On the Saturday evening before the bombing, one witness said she served beer to McVeigh "and John Doe No. 2, whom she described as having a dark complexion."
Meanwhile, three female store employees, the commission's report said, "saw a pickup truck matching the FBI description at another business in the neighborhood. All three testified that McVeigh and two other men speaking a foreign language came into their store on April 14 and 17."
The commission said the owner of the pickup was indeed questioned by the FBI as a possible John Doe No. 2 suspect, but "he claimed that he was a house painter and also [was] employed by a restaurant."
However, the commission said, "on the day of the bombing he said he was painting a house, but a neighbor stated that the house referred to was not being painted that day. Three other witnesses gave information that was contradictory to that of the suspect."
The owner of a pawnshop in Oklahoma City told the commission that McVeigh and two other men were "in her shop several days before the bombing, on 14 April and again on 17 April."
Others saw a "dark, muscular man" at a local grain elevator in Junction City, "lifting heavy bags into the back of a Ryder truck." The FBI has said the bomb used against the Murrah Building was built partially with ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer element sold at feed stores.
Hours before the bombing
Several other witnesses told the commission of seeing McVeigh with others in the hours leading up to the bombing, which occurred at 9:02 a.m. April 19.
A farmer told the commission he saw a "Ryder truck shortly after" the owner of a café in Mulhall, Okla., saw a Ryder truck parked outside at about 7 a.m. that morning. The café, the commission said, is about 45 miles north of Oklahoma City.
The farmer, the report noted, said the Ryder truck was stopped at the side of the road "and when he stopped to ask the two men in the truck if they needed help, he received a cold response and left the scene."
About an hour before the blast, an oil company executive reported seeing a yellow Mercury matching the description of the car McVeigh was stopped in by an Oklahoma state trooper within days of the blast "in the company parking lot."
"A tall, thin man and a stocky, dark-complexioned man were standing next to the car," the report said. "After the explosion, the men and the car were gone."
Shortly thereafter, a warehouse worker said he "flagged over a truck that he believed came to his place of employment to make a pick-up. He was at eye-level with the passenger, McVeigh, but could not identify the driver."
At about 8:30 a.m., another witness -- a bank vice president -- "saw a Ryder truck and a car resembling McVeigh's, traveling slowly in downtown Oklahoma City," the report said. "McVeigh was driving the car, which contained two other passengers. He did not see the occupants of the truck."
An attorney said he saw a "dilapidated Mercury" automobile run a red light and drive into the underground parking area of the Murrah building at about 8:38 a.m..
And, between 8:45 and 8:55 a.m., another witness, who was in the alley across the street from the Murrah building, "saw a light-colored car parked in a 'no parking' zone with a dark-complexioned or possibly Middle Eastern male in the passenger seat."
The witness "was walking down the alley to his car when he was almost hit by the car as it sped away," the report said. "The license tag on the car was dangling by a bolt; it was not an Arizona plate. He later identified the driver as McVeigh."
The commission said it interviewed nearly 80 witnesses who each gave pieces of detailed information regarding McVeigh and a number of other persons with whom he was seen.