April 19, 1995 and After: Oklahoma City Bombing Co-Conspirators Conceal Involvement from Federal Investigators

Michael and Lori Fortier, close friends of suspected Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh who have some involvement in the bombing conspiracy (see May-September 1993, February - July 1994, August 1994, September 13, 1994, October 21 or 22, 1994, and December 16, 1994 and After), see the news broadcasts of the bombing on television in their Kingman, Arizona, home (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995). They have a house guest, Marion Day Laird. Laird will later recall that the Fortiers exhibit almost no reaction to the news of the bombing. “They acted the same,” she later says. “They didn’t act any differently that I would notice.” Fortier’s recollection of his reaction is quite different. “Right away, I thought Tim did it,” he will say. “I think I thought, ‘Oh my God, he did it.’” Fortier and his wife discuss calling the FBI the day of the bombing, or at least asking advice from Lori’s father, but after seeing President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno promise the death penalty for those responsible (see 4:00 p.m., April 19, 1995), they decide to tell no one. Later, when the FBI tracks them down and begins pressing them for information, Michael Fortier will lie about their involvement. “I felt Tim was like a buffer zone,” Fortier will say. “If people thought he was guilty, then that would bring suspicion down on myself. But if he was innocent, then surely I would have no knowledge.” In the days after the bombing, when FBI investigators first question the Fortiers, as Michael Fortier will recall, “I told them I didn’t think Tim was capable of it.” When asked about the possible involvement of suspected accomplice Terry Nichols, Fortier will say: “I just gave a negative answer that I didn’t know nothing about Terry. I just wanted to push him aside and not even have to think about him.” [Serrano, 1998, pp. 239-240] Investigators become more interested in the Fortiers after learning that a local reporter seeking to interview the couple is greeted with a shotgun and the words, “Stay away from here.” [Stickney, 1996, pp. 184]