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April 23 - May 6, 1995: Accused Oklahoma City Accomplice Continues to Lie to Investigators about Involvement

1995-05-06

Michael and Lori Fortier, close friends of accused Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh who took part in the conspiracy to build and detonate the bomb (see May-September 1993, February - July 1994, August 1994, September 13, 1994, October 21 or 22, 1994, and December 16, 1994 and After), are closely questioned by FBI agents. Federal agents have combed through their home town of Kingman, Arizona, compiling evidence and questioning friends and neighbors. The Fortiers have pretended to know nothing about the bomb plot (see April 19, 1995 and After) and continue to lie to investigators. Michael Fortier tells agents that his trip to Oklahoma City to “case” the target of the bombing, the Murrah Federal Building (see December 16, 1994 and After), happened in a far different way than the evidence suggests: Fortier says that he hitched a ride to Kansas to buy guns from McVeigh for resale. The agents do not believe his story. He tells agents that he never heard McVeigh discuss anything to do with bombmaking, and says he only discussed guns and government issues with McVeigh, “never, ever” discussing blowing up any buildings. On May 6, perhaps cracking under the stress of the interrogations and the intense, negative media coverage (reporters are camped out in front of his home and filing stories about him being an accomplice in the bombing), he asks agents to stop interrogating him. “I don’t want to cooperate,” he says. “I can’t be of any more help. I don’t know anything.” The agents accuse Fortier of being heavily involved in the bombing conspiracy, and of lying about his involvement. One agent calls Fortier a “baby killer,” the same imprecation leveled at McVeigh after his arraignment (see April 21, 1995). After the agents threaten to “raid” his home, Fortier agrees to cooperate. The agents give him enough time to get his wife, their two-year-old daughter Kayla, and their cats out of their trailer home. [Serrano, 1998, pp. 240-243]