November 22, 1993: Future Oklahoma City Bomber Loses Son in Apparent Accident

Michigan farmer Terry Nichols (see March 24, 1988 - Late 1990, April 2, 1992 and After, and October 12, 1993 - January 1994) suffers a tragedy. He is packing his family for what he says is a move to St. George, Utah. Around 6:30 a.m., he checks on his two-year-old son Jason, who, Nichols later says, had been crying and “fussing” through the night. Nichols is called back inside his house around 9 a.m. Jason is dead, suffocated with his head and shoulders in a plastic bag. Investigating officers later report that Nichols is “quiet and visibly upset.” Nichols’s wife Marife (see July - December 1990) is distraught, according to the sheriff’s report, “requesting the police officer to go up and take fingerprints at the house in the bedroom.” The report will state, “She thought this could not have happened by accident, that someone had to have intentionally done this to her boy.” The report also notes, “It was observed that there were no unusual signs of trauma.” The authorities rule the death accidental. A neighbor who sits with the family for hours later describes both of the parents as devastated. Among the mourners is Nichols’s close friend Timothy McVeigh, who has been staying with the Nichols family. After Jason’s death, Nichols will abandon his plans to move to Utah; instead he will attempt a brief stint as a construction worker in Las Vegas, then take a job as a ranch hand in Marion County, leaving Marife to live on his brother’s farm. [New York Times, 5/28/1995; New York Times, 12/24/1997] Nichols’s ex-wife Lana Padilla will later imply in her book By Blood Betrayed that McVeigh had something to do with Jason’s death, though no evidence of foul play has ever been suggested. McVeigh’s younger sister Jennifer McVeigh will have harsh words for the implication, telling author Brandon M. Stickney: “I think it’s cruel of her, sick of her to put that in there, because from what I knew about that, Tim found him and tried to save him. Implying he would hurt a little kid like that… he has a niece. He likes kids. He would never do anything to intentionally harm a child like that. He would have no reason to.” [Stickney, 1996, pp. 157] Nichols will later take part in the Oklahoma City bombing with McVeigh, in which 19 children are killed and many others injured (see 8:35 a.m. - 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995). Police reports mention McVeigh under an alias, “Jim Tuttle.” [Serrano, 1998, pp. 111]