Before July 3, 1995: Guns from Arkansas Robbery Tied to Oklahoma City Bombing Conspirators

Federal investigators probing the Oklahoma City bombing (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995) link weapons stolen in a 1994 Arkansas robbery (see November 5, 1994) to one of the bombing suspects, Terry Nichols (see March 1995, April 16-17, 1995, 5:00 a.m. April 18, 1995, 8:15 a.m. and After, April 18, 1995, and June 23, 1995). Nichols is accused of plotting the bombing with Timothy McVeigh (see April 21, 1995 and April 24, 1995); both are suspected in the robbery. Some of the 66 rifles and shotguns, and eight handguns, stolen from Arkansas gun collector and dealer Roger Moore were found in a recent search of Nichols’s home in Herington, Kansas (see 3:15 p.m. and After, April 21-22, 1995 and April 24, 1995). Thirty-three weapons were found in Nichols’s home, as well as a safe-deposit key stolen in the Moore robbery. Investigators have also determined that a rare, customized Winchester Model-43 .22-caliber Horner rifle stolen from Moore was discovered in a gun shop in Kingman, Arizona, where McVeigh has lived on and off for years (see March 1993, May-September 1993, February - July 1994, September 13, 1994 and After, October 4 - Late October, 1994, October 21 or 22, 1994, February 1995, February 17, 1995 and After, and March 31 - April 12, 1995). The gun shop owner, Jim Fuller, says he bought the rifle from a known associate of McVeigh’s, James Rosencrans (see May 1, 1995). [New York Times, 7/3/1995]