MCALESTER, Okla., April 21 (UPI) -- A key witness in the murder trial of Terry Nichols says he knew of the Oklahoma City bombing plot and might have prevented it had he gone to police.
Michael Fortier, who is serving time for not warning authorities, told the jury Tuesday he didn't think his old Army buddy, Timothy McVeigh, would go through with the 1995 attack that killed 168 people, the Oklahoman reported.
Fortier said Nichols helped buy ammonium nitrate from stores and then steal explosives from a rock quarry in Kansas. He also said that Nichols alone stole guns from an Arkansas man to finance the bombing plot.
Fortier said he first heard of the plot in a 1994 letter from McVeigh.
"He told me that him and Terry had decided to take some type of positive action, and he wanted to know if I wanted to help," he said.
Fortier is serving a 12-year federal sentence for not warning authorities, helping McVeigh transport stolen guns and lying to the FBI after the attack. He pleaded guilty in a plea agreement that required his testimony in the trial.
Nichols, who is already serving a life sentence from a federal conviction, could receive the death penalty if he is convicted on state murder charges. McVeigh was convicted in federal court and executed three years ago.
