Many of those interviewed for this book challenged powerful people and institutions, including their own, to correct and enrich the historical record. Some did so knowing their own actions were far from perfect. Others were put on the spot but talked anyway. That takes guts, and our gratitude goes out accordingly. It would be impolitic to identify favorites among the 150-plus interview subjects who spoke on the record. But a handful—they know who they are—displayed a candor and intellectual honesty all too rare in a story in which many people have had an angle to push, or something to hide.
One person who needs special mention is Terry Nichols. He shares responsibility for the horrors of the bombing, but he has also been a unique resource: cooperative at every stage and often exhaustive in his attention to detail. He took a risk in consenting to release the full archive of privileged documents held by his defense lawyers, and he wrote tens of thousands of words in response to our questions, however pointed. He was obliged to do none of these things. While we have reserved the right to judge his words and actions against the broader factual record, we are grateful for his willingness to speak out, to confess his crimes and other personal failings, and to add texture and depth to our story.
For on-the-record interview contributions (some of whom are not in the text, often because they were able to knock down false leads and misconceptions), many thanks (in alphabetical order) to: Julia Allen, Wayne Alley, David Allred, Gregory Argyros, Karyn Armstrong, Tim Arney, Paul Baker, David Batsell, Garry Berges, Mark Bouton, Rodney Bowers, Jeanne Boylan, Joseph Bross, Stanley Brown, Bill Buford, Joe Van Bullard, Dick Burr, Bruce Campbell, Vincent Cannistraro, Jim Carlile, Jim Cavanaugh, Steve Chancellor, Richard Cohen, Jerry Cook, Danny Coulson, Jannie Coverdale, Bill and Sandy Crigler, Claude Criss, Danny Defenbaugh, Dick DeGuerin, Jim Denny, Dave Dilly, Dennis Dutsch, Harry Eberhardt, Lee Fabrizio, Ladell Farley, Luke Franey, Alexis Franklin, Mary Lou Fultz, Hank Gibbons, Mark Gibson, Aitan Goelman, Marie Louise Hagen, Judy Hamilton Morse, David Paul Hammer, Richard Hanawalt, Joe Hartzler, John Haynie, Floyd Hays, Greg Henry, John Hippard, Dave Hollaway, Tom Hoover, Ronald Howland, Greg Hug, Danielle Hunt, Tom Hunt, Linda James, Suzanne James, Adolph Januszkiewicz, Kelly Johnson, Mike Johnston, Dean Jones, Stephen Jones, John Kane, Weldon Kennedy, Kyle Kilgore, Richard Kirby, Neal Kirkpatrick, Gary Knight, Jack Knox, Frank Koch, Eric Kruss, Corey Lamb, Kerry Larsen, Diane Leonard, Steve Lewis, Pat Livingston, Kirk Lyons, Larry Mackey, John Magaw, Bill Maloney, Chris Matlock, Linda Matlock, Michael McGovern, Marty McLaughlin, Scott Mendeloff, Jeralyn Merritt, Tom Metzger, Horace Mewborn, Lou Michel, Dick Miller, Carol Moore, Tristan Moreland, Reid Mullins, Terry Nichols, Rob Nigh, Melva Noakes, Kerry Noble, Gary Noesner, Richard O’Carroll, Jim Otte, Lana Padilla, Jim Pate, Joe Phillips, Mike Reynolds, Bob Ricks, James Rockwell, Don Rogers, Dana Rohrabacher, Tom Ross, Scott Rutter, Bob Sanders, Kathy Sanders, Greg Scarpa Jr., David Schickedanz, Michael Schwartz, Jack Schworm, Cheri Seymour, Rick Sherrow, Pete Slover, I. C. Smith, Clyde Snow, Gerry Spence, Sheldon Sperling, Karl Stankovic, Rick Stephens, Ken Stern, Andi Strassmeir, Bill Teater, Michael Tigar, James Tillison, Pharis Williams, Ritch Willis, Tommy Wittman, Ed Woods, Ron Woods, Carl Worden, Stuart Wright, Janice Yeary, and Randy Yount.
Thank you also to those who did not speak for attribution but provided invaluable firsthand information. Some needed to remain anonymous to protect themselves or others. Two outstanding individuals chose not to put their names forward because they didn’t want to be accused of grandstanding. While we would have preferred to print their names, their lack of ego is admirable.
An enterprise of this nature rests on the shoulders of those who have mined and explored this material in the past. We want to acknowledge the sterling work done by many law enforcement agents, even in the context of a flawed investigation, and also by the defense, especially the Nichols team, whose research and analysis have gone largely unpublicized until now. Some people provided valuable unpublished documents: Tom Hunt and his archive of materials from the Federal Protective Service in Oklahoma City; Stanley Brown and his handwritten journal of the day of the bombing; Kirk Lyons and the copies he provided of Andreas Strassmeir’s passports and U.S. visa. The late J. D. Cash, an investigator and journalist from rural Oklahoma, was himself an indefatigable collector of documents we are lucky to have inherited. Most useful were Mary Riley’s field notes (see chapter 4), Richard Guthrie’s irresistibly quotable handwritten prison memoir, and the transcripts of interviews conducted in 1999–2000 (many by Cash himself) for a never-released documentary on the bombing.
For the discovery materials, thank you not only to Nichols but to Brian Hermanson, his chief lawyer in the Oklahoma state trial; Richard Demarest, who volunteered to convert and send the files; and Jesse Trentadue, a lawyer from Salt Lake City, who first forged a relationship with Nichols and made access to him possible. Trentadue’s persistent Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits against the government—all filed in the name of justice for his brother who died in federal custody in Oklahoma in 1995—have provided a valuable public service.
Many journalists, academics, lawyers, and investigators have been generous in sharing materials and offering support. John Solomon, who has done his own groundbreaking reporting on this subject, was the project’s unofficial godfather. Mark Hamm of Indiana State University has been a selfless contributor to our research for a decade. Don Devereux and Bob Arthur tracked down many hard-to-find interview subjects and acted as unofficial Arizona fixers. Jonathan Franklin opened doors and offered the raw notes of his face-to-face interview with McVeigh. Sandra Harmon put Andrew Gumbel in touch with Gregory Scarpa Jr. and shared Scarpa’s correspondence on Terry Nichols. Mary Mapes, in Dallas, and Dave Hawkins, in Kingman, offered material and much-appreciated hospitality. Rich Leiby of the Washington Post shared his taped interview with Mark Thomas and wins the prize for most gloriously laugh-out-loud question put to a neo-Nazi. Mark Earnest, one of Nichols’s state trial lawyers, provided court filings and much valuable analysis. Thanks also to David Shuster and his former colleagues at KATV, Randy Dixon and Rusty Mizell, to Jerry Bohnen of KTOK in Oklahoma City, to Jack Cashill and Mike Tharp.
A number of people provided direct research assistance: Eli Smukler (who outdid himself), Cody Reneau, Ginny Charles, and Beth Bartel. Thanks also to those who provided logistical help, or facilitated access, or talked through issues, or delivered pieces of information, or hardened up facts. In alphabetical order: Skip Baker, MaryAnne Beatty, Pam Bell, John Berger, Leslie Blade, Sherry Boyce, David Brog, Sheryll Brown, Rico Carisch, Glynda Chu, Steven Clay, Jimmy Coker, Don Cox, Beverly David, Veronica Decena, Margot Dunne, Mickey Edwards, Dan Froomkin, Miki Goral, Phil Hall, Dave Hart, Gregg Hastings, Walt Haussner, Josh Hunsucker, Manny Johnson, Chuck Karfonta, Dean Kuipers, Angie Lanier, Allan Lengel, Harry Lett, Claudine LoMonaco, Judge Richard P. Matsch, Robin Mayper, Kevin Moloney, Matt Moning, Jay Mumford, Wendy Painting, Suzie Paulson, Sheree Powell, Adam Rappaport, Ron Replogle, Joey Senat, Tara Setmayer, Kathleen Staunton, Helen Stiefmiller, David Sobonya, Dan Thomasson, Carole Turner, Luke Vislay, Anne Weismann, Jan White, Fred Whitehurst, Pamela Williams, Evan Wright, and Marge York. Our apologies to anyone we have forgotten.
ANDREW GUMBEL WOULD LIKE TO THANK HENRY FERRIS, AN ASSIDUOUS, exceptionally fine editor who understood just how to tell this huge and gripping story; Trina Hunn, whose editorial eye was as keen as her legal prowess; the rest of the William Morrow team, whose excitement was infectious; the ever-gracious Gail Ross and the Ross Yoon agency; Dana Newman and Miles Feldman, who went above and beyond; Charles Noble and Edward Olson; Larry George, generous to a fault; Max and Raffaella, who followed the story, asked great questions, and put up with months of me staring into the middle distance; Sammy, who arrived just in time to put the rest in perspective; and, most of all, my wife, Naomi Seligman, the ideal partner in this and all things. Your love, intelligence, many contributions, and wicked humor held everything else together.
ROGER CHARLES WOULD LIKE TO THANK STEPHEN JONES, FOR UNSTINTING support and friendship; the late Glenn Wilburn; Kathy Wilburn Sanders; Ken Blood, Clark Brewster, Pat Briley, Bill Cowan, John Culbertson, David Fechheimer, Mark Hampton, Ambassador Robert Hennemeyer, Mike Hubbard, Charles Key, Kris Kolesnik, V. Z. Lawton, Gil Macklin, Rick Ojeda, Dale Phillips, Bill Rhegness, Bob Sheridan, Michael Turner, Fred Whitehurst, and Mike Vanderboegh. Tom McCally, Lawrence E. Carr Jr., and Michael Minnis gave indispensable legal counsel. Bruce Willingham of the McCurtain Daily Gazette deserves special mention. Also: Robert K. Brown, Rita Cosby, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Jeff Fager, James Giles, Karen Gullo, Patty Hassler, David Hoffman, John F. Kelly, Tom Jarriel, Bill Jasper, Scott Malone, Gary Matsumoto, Mike McCarville, Don McLean, Mike McNulty, Victor Newfeld, Ivan O’Mahoney, Dan Rather, Jim Ridgeway, Ryan Ross, Bob Ruth, Diane Sawyer, John Siceloff, Dwight Swift, Judy Thomas, Donald K. Thrasher, and Gordon Whitkin.
For my family, it’s very simple. Without the unqualified love and support of my wife, Mary Lee, and of our daughters, Katie, Ginny, and Ellen, I would not have been able to sustain my work on this story. They tolerated many absences, phone calls, and dinner guests, and convinced me to go forward when the easier path would have been to back off. To the loved ones of those who are not alive to see the publication of this book: would that we could share the fruits of our labors with them.