WICHITA, Kan., April 26, 1995 (UPI) -- Materials that could have been used to make the bomb that killed or maimed scores of people in Oklahoma City last week were found at a farm where Terry Nichols lived, a federal prosecutor told a detention hearing Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Monti Belot ordered Nichols, who was named along with his brother in a federal conspiracy indictment in Michigan Tuesday, held without bond as a material witness in the bombing. Nichols has until May 5 to appeal the ruling or face transfer to Oklahoma.
U.S. Attorney Randy Rathbun said investigators found three empty, 50-pound bags that had contained ammonium nitrate, a device that could have been used to measure either fuel oil or diesel fuel and four 55-gallon containers that could have been used to mix a bomb at the Herington, Kan., farm where Nichols was living.
In addition, 33 weapons, including a 60mm anti-tank rocket, and blasting caps were found, he said. There also was literature on the Branch Davidians, the federal raid on the Davidians' compound at Waco, Texas, and tax protestation.
Rathbun said when Nichols was arrested, he told federal marshals that Timothy McVeigh, who is charged in the bombing, called him two or three days before the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was blown up and asked Nichols to pick him up in Oklahoma City.
Nichols allegedly collected McVeigh on April 16 and arrived back in Junction City, Kan., at 1:30 a.m. on the 17th. Rathbun said McVeigh called Nichols at 6:30 a.m. on the 18th and the two met in Junction City an hour later. McVeigh then borrowed Nichols' pickup and returned it at 2 p.m. when the two men went to a storage shed.
Rathbun said McVeigh instructed Nichols: '''If I don't come back in a while, you'll clean out the storage shed," which he did on Thursday.
"On the trip back from Oklahoma City late Sunday or early Monday, McVeigh said, 'Something big is going to happen,'" Rathbun said. ''Nichols said, 'Are you going to rob a bank?' McVeigh said, 'Something big is going to happen.'''
Rathbun noted McVeigh and Nichols had been friends for years. They served together in the Army, first meeting during basic training, operated a military surplus business together and lived together on several occasions. Rathbun said Nichols' neighbors in Herington said a number of white men in their 20s were staying at the farm and that two roughly matched the descriptions of the suspects identified as John Doe No. 1 and John Doe No. 2.
In trying to explain the things found at Nichols' farm, defense attorney Steve Gradert argued: ''He deals in military surplus. Many of the items found at his home are found at military surplus stores and military shows.''
''An anti-tank rocket?'' the judge interjected.
After the court session, Gradert noted Nichols had surrendered voluntarily. ''It's important to note that he turned himself in because he heard his name on the radio and everywhere he looked there were FBI agents in surveillance. So I suppose I'd turn myself in too.''
Nearly 100 people lined up outside the tiny courtroom where the hearing was held. Marshals handed out numbers for the 50 available seats and those assembled were told seats would be available on a first come, first served basis.
However, when courtroom doors opened, those waiting outside found 40 people already inside, including lawyers not connected to the case and courthouse personnel. A source in the U.S. Marshal's office told UPI Belot was asked to move the hearing to a larger courtroom upstairs but refused.
