ipl-logo

Timothy Mcveigh Case

931 Words4 Pages

Timothy McVeigh was found guilty of the bombing of the Oklahoma federal building on the morning of April 19, 1995, one of the worst deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil (Biography, 2017). Born in Lockport, New York, McVeigh grew up liking guns and went on to serve in the United States Army during the Persian Gulf War. Upon being honorably discharged out of the United States Army, he became anti-government because he did not like the way the government handled Waco and Ruby Ridge (Murderpedia, 2017). On the morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. McVeigh made the Ryder truck into a Large Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device …show more content…

McVeigh used time fuse to detonate PETN filled detonation cord that detonated the ANFO inside the Ryder truck (Saferstein, 2014). The reason why he used time fuse is because time fuse burning at 42 seconds per foot allowed him to light it before he drove up and parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building as well as give him time to get to his escape vehicle and drive off. McVeigh waited until children were dropped off at the daycare in the building as well as most of the employees getting to work before the he parked the VBIED which went off at precisely 9:03 a.m. (Murderpedia, 2017). After the explosion, the surrounding area looked like a war zone, reducing half of the federal building to rubble. The front of the building, levels, and floors were destroyed and unrecognizable. The vehicles that were parked around the federal building were incinerated and more than 300 nearby buildings were damaged or destroyed from the …show more content…

On April 20, 1995, the rear axle of the Ryder truck was located and a vehicle identification number that was traced to a body shop in Junction City, Kansas. The employees at the shop helped the FBI quickly put together a composite drawing of the man who had rented the van from the business. The FBI agents used the drawing to show the people around town to help identify the suspect in the bombing case. The FBI went to a local hotel near the area and the employees identified the man in the drawing as Timothy McVeigh. The investigating agents called the Bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia to get the information out nationwide, but were surprised to find out that Timothy McVeigh was already in jail for a weapons violation in Oklahoma. An Oklahoma State Trooper noticed a missing license plate on a yellow Mercury Marquis conducted a traffic stop. The driver of the vehicle that was pulled over was Timothy McVeigh, who was about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City at the time of the stop. The Trooper found a concealed weapon on McVeigh and he was arrested for the violation. The FBI quickly pieced together the timeline of when he was stopped and arrested, and determined it was only 90 minutes after the bombing of the federal building. The FBI collected McVeigh’s clothes and sent them to

Open Document