Report: New FBI File Boosts Witness

One of the newly discovered FBI documents handed over to Timothy McVeigh's lawyers calls into question evidence used to discredit a witness who testified he saw McVeigh with a second man an hour before the bombing, according to a published report.

The witness' credibility came under attack in part because a prosecutor said the man did not come forward for six months after the Oklahoma City bombing. But the FBI document, known as a lead sheet, confirmed he came forward two days after the bombing, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing an unidentified source familiar with the case.

In all, 4,034 pages of materials about the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building have been found that should have been turned over to McVeigh's attorneys years ago. The FBI says computer and record-keeping blunders caused the problem and that some documents were not material to the case.

Nichols Filing (.pdf) Wants new trial Legal Analysis By Andrew Cohen Ashcroft Statement Read the text Black Eye For FBI New controversy FBI Computers Worried Congress Antiquated system Coming Clean McVeigh admits role Lessons Fighting terror A Personal Account By Amanda Savage

Attorney General John Ashcroft Thursday insisted none of the new evidence bears on McVeigh's conviction or sentence and said no further delay would be necessary.

The lead sheet pertained to Morris John Kuper Jr., a witness who told the FBI he saw a man resembling McVeigh walking with another man along the sidewalk near the federal building an hour before the bombing.

In the trial of McVeigh's co-defendant, Terry Nichols, prosecutor Patrick Ryan challenged Kuper's credibility by saying he had made no attempt to contact the FBI before Oct. 24, 1995.

"I certainly would never intentionally tell the jury someone had not come forward fo six months if I knew they had come forward a couple of days after the bombing," Ryan, now a lawyer in private practice, told the Times.

Some legal experts had argued evidence of an accomplice could have helped McVeigh's lawyers make the case for a reduced sentence.

However, McVeigh himself may have sabotaged any chance he had to turn the FBI's flub into a permanent reprieve in his handwritten letter to the Houston Chronicle. In it, McVeigh writes flatly that no John Doe helped him blow up the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people.

"We have reviewed all of the documents carefully and remain confident that nothing in them undermines Mr. McVeigh's admission or the justice of his sentence," she said.

Nathan Chambers, a member of McVeigh's legal team, said Saturday he could not comment on any of the FBI documents. He said attorneys had not yet decided whether to seek a new trial or a stay of execution.

A court order prevents the Justice Department from releasing the evidence to the public or describing it in detail. Among the evidence found, according to Ashcroft, were:

• newspaper, magazine clippings and a swimsit calendar from a person in psychiatric care. "Most of these clippings did not pertain to the bombing," the attorney general said.
• Correspondence from a person offering unspecified information in exchange for getting a person released from prison, a large cash award and a trip to Europe.
• Letters containing information about "non-physical beings" and "offers by psychics to contact victims for information on the bombing."
• Documents recording services of subpoenas and other routine legal matters.

Ashcroft also said the Justice Department would release to the public a redacted version of a report given to the defense lawyers "documenting the FBI's efforts to identify any remaining documents," which "explains the content and nature of newly produced documents."

"As this report explains, the American people can now have confidence" that McVeigh's execution — the first federal execution in 38 years — is appropriate. "Nothing in these documents undermine the justice of his sentence."

©MMI Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press and Reuters Limited contributed to this report