April 15, 1995: Oklahoma City Bomber Rents Ryder Truck Used to Plant Bomb

Elliott’s Body Shop in Junction City. Two Ryder trucks similar to the one rented by McVeigh are visible. [Source: Luogocomune (.net)]Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh (see September 13, 1994, October 20, 1994, April 13, 1995, and 7:00 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995) rents a Ryder panel truck from Elliott’s Body Shop in Junction City, Kansas. McVeigh uses the alias “Robert [or Bob] Kling” (see Mid-March, 1995). [CNN, 5/9/1997; Serrano, 1998, pp. 132; Douglas O. Linder, 2001] McVeigh wants a one-way rental of a 20-foot Ryder and a hand truck. He says he intends to drop off the Ryder and the hand truck in Omaha, Nebraska. McVeigh pays in cash. He pays the entire rental fee of $280.32 instead of a mere deposit, so he will be able to get in and out of the store quickly on April 17, when he intends to pick up the truck, and is adamant that he needs the truck by 4:00 p.m. He declines insurance, telling store owner Eldon Elliott he does not need it because he is a truck driver for the Army. Elliott gives McVeigh two days free because he believes McVeigh is in the military. McVeigh will later tell his lawyers that the employee who rents the truck to him, presumably Elliott, is “a dumb guy,” though he could be referring to Elliott’s employee Tom Kessinger, who is also involved in the transaction. McVeigh drives back to the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, and returns the oil filter he bought from WalMart the day before. [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996; New York Times, 1/13/1997; Serrano, 1998, pp. 133] A chronology prepared by McVeigh’s lawyers will later state that McVeigh buys a car battery, not an oil filter. [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996] The New York Times will later erroneously report that McVeigh uses the alias “William B. Kling” to rent the truck, not “Robert Kling” (see Mid-March, 1995). [New York Times, 4/23/1995] An unidentified man, later designated as “John Doe No. 2” by federal authorities (see April 20, 1995), is apparently with McVeigh. The man will later be described as being of medium build and having a tattoo on one arm. Authorities will not determine his identity, and will remain unsure if this man was actually with McVeigh or merely another customer. [New York Times, 4/26/1995; Mickolus and Simmons, 6/1997, pp. 810]