November 30, 1994: McVeigh Leaves Letter to Possible Co-Conspirator Taped to Electrical Tower in Desert

Electrical worker Donald E. Pipins, patrolling power lines and electrical towers in Southern California, finds an envelope taped to an electrical tower in the California desert near the Arizona state line. The envelope is about 12 feet off the ground. Inside is a letter signed by “Tim Tuttle” and addressed to “S.C.” Federal investigators will later determine that “Tuttle” is an alias used by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh (see October 12, 1993 - January 1994). They also believe that “S.C.” is Steven Garrett Colbern, a drifter with a degree in biochemistry and an interest in explosives, though investigators will later clear Colbern of any involvement in the bombing plot (see May 12, 1995). Karen Anderson, the girlfriend of Roger Moore, an Arkansas gun dealer who was robbed by McVeigh’s co-conspirator Terry Nichols (see November 5, 1994), will tell investigators that she tried to arrange for McVeigh to meet Colbern, because both liked hiking in the desert. Colbern was a client of her mail-order ammunition business. The letter begins, “I will try to keep this generic in case it is intercepted.” It expresses McVeigh’s concern that Colbern might be an undercover federal agent, and informs Colbern there would be a “sniper overwatch” when they met. “I’m not looking for talkers,” the letter continues. “I’m looking for fighters,” men who could share “a common, righteous goal.” [New York Times, 12/6/1997] A chronology of McVeigh’s actions completed by his lawyers (see Early 2005) will later say that the letter McVeigh leaves Colbern is written some time in January 1995. According to the chronology, McVeigh worries that Colbern is trying to “set [him] up,” and refuses to meet with Colbern. McVeigh will later say that Moore told Colburn about him, saying that he was looking for men to form a group of “patriots,” anti-government separatists. McVeigh, Moore told Colbern, wanted to “hook up with a group or form one himself” to “copy and dissiminate literature and probably progress further.” Colbern had contacted McVeigh with his own letter, and divulged so much information that McVeigh became suspicious. Colburn also wanted McVeigh to give him a license plate for a Volkswagon. [PBS Frontline, 1/22/1996]