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Waco Archive - The articles

I am compiling an archive of articles found on the internet - hopefully when enough material is archived a comprehensive view of this disaster can be established.

Shocker: FBI Expert Had Different Opinion Of Cause Of OKC Blast 11-1-98 DENVER (Reuters) - If a controversial former FBI chemist had been allowed to testify at the Oklahoma City bombing trial he would have disputed government witnesses on the cause of the blast, according to a court document unsealed Thursday. A judge unsealed the document so defense attorneys for Terry Nichols can use it to appeal his life sentence for conspiracy to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in 1995. The truck bomb killed 168 people. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch did not allow the chemist, Frederic Whitehurst, to testify at Nichols' trial. But if Whitehurst had testified he would have ``rebut(ed) the ultimate conclusions (of two major government witnesses) that the explosion was caused by an ammonium-nitrate based bomb,'' Nichols' lawyer Michael Tigar said in the previously sealed document. A Justice Department spokeswoman told Reuters the decision not to allow Whitehurst to testify was made by a neutral judge after reviewing his proposed testimony. Before the trial began Whitehurst had alleged improprieties at the laboratory, which led to an internal investigation. The probe concluded there were serious deficiencies in the lab. Whitehurst has since resigned and no longer works for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tigar also submitted to the judge a statement, which was also unsealed on Thursday, from Whitehurst's attorney claiming that the chief prosecutor in the bombing case and a top FBI official threatened Whitehurst with ``future adverse administrative action'' when he cooperated with the Nichols defense team. The Justice Department spokeswoman said she could not comment on the specifics of that document because she had not seen it. ^REUTERS@