Only 6 Eyewitnesses Expected to Testify Against McVeigh

DENVER —  After conducting tens of thousands of interviews, federal prosecutors plan to call only six eyewitnesses whose testimony is expected to identify Timothy J. McVeigh in the conspiracy to destroy the federal office building in Oklahoma City, sources said this week.

In addition, the sources said, only one of the eyewitnesses claims to have seen McVeigh and the large yellow Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building just before a fertilizer and fuel oil bomb inside the truck exploded on the morning of April 19, 1995.

Another witness is expected to testify that he saw McVeigh stop at a gas station in northern Oklahoma in the early morning hours before the explosion, where authorities believe the former army sergeant stopped to buy diesel gasoline on his way from Kansas to Oklahoma City.

But, according to the sources, none of the witnesses saw McVeigh purchase any of the bomb components, store the materials in public lockers or mix the ingredients and fashion the explosive device that prosecutors allege ultimately killed 168 people and wounded 850.

In addition, the testimony of some of the six eyewitnesses could prove troublesome as they take the stand when McVeigh goes to trial this spring. Their recollections differ sharply at times from what other people recall about McVeigh’s activities in the days before the bombing.

Court documents identifying the eyewitnesses are under seal in U.S. District Court here, where McVeigh is scheduled to stand trial on March 31. But sources on both sides of the case confirmed this week that the government now plans to call only the six eyewitnesses to possible conspiratorial acts by McVeigh.

Government sources said that they have amassed an exhaustive file of other evidence that, when added to the eyewitness testimony, strongly proves that McVeigh is responsible for the worst act of terrorism in the United States.

But sources in McVeigh’s defense camp suggested that, because so few people can place their client in activities allegedly carrying out the bomb conspiracy, the government has a weak case.

“They have a very circumstantial case,” said a defense source. “This case does not justify the hyperbole the government has given it.”

The sources described two of the government’s eyewitnesses:

* A person who was near the site of the federal office high-rise before the explosion and is expected to testify that he saw a man resembling McVeigh park the Ryder truck in front of the Murrah building, get out of the front seat and move toward the back of the vehicle.

(Other people who were in the downtown area have told authorities, defense investigators and the press that they saw the driver get out of the truck and run across the street. Others recalled two people in the truck, while still others have said that McVeigh was not in the truck.)

* A person who was at a service station near Blackwell, Okla., who is expected to testify that McVeigh pulled the truck into the station between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. the day of the bombing. The station is located between Oklahoma City and Junction City, Kan., where McVeigh allegedly rented the truck.

The names of the other witnesses were identified by the sources:

* Eldon Elliott, owner of the Junction City rental truck agency. While he is expected to tell the jury that McVeigh rented the truck, he remains a likely problem for prosecutors because he also told authorities of a second man who accompanied McVeigh. That man, known to this day only as “John Doe No. 2” has never been identified.

* Tom Kessinger, who worked at the rental agency. While he has recalled seeing McVeigh, it was unclear whether he also remembered a second figure.

* Lea McGown, owner of the Dreamland Motel in Junction City. While she can place McVeigh as a guest at her inn during the time authorities believe he was renting the truck and assembling the bomb components, she also poses problems for prosecutors because she insists that he had the truck a day before Elliott says it was rented.

* Helmut Hofer, owner of the Imperial Motel in Kingman, Ariz., where McVeigh lived for two weeks until he checked out and allegedly drove to Junction City a week before the bombing.