Oklahoma City – Terry Nichols, co-conspirator in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, especifically of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, petitioned a U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch to return his guns seized by federal authorities, in order to sell them to support his children.
Senior US District Judge Richard Matsch, who presided over the trials of Nichols and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, received a handwritten request filed in July by Nichols asking him to have the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI turn over his guns to his ex wife or his sister so they can be sold to provide financial support he owes.
According to Nichols, these firearms were not used in the bombing. “(The) firearms had nothing to do with the Oklahoma City (OKC) bombing, none were used in the bombing, nor was the bomb set off by any type of firearm,” Nichols said in the letter.
The FBI is in possession of thirteen rifles, handguns, and shotguns belonging to Nichols, which were apparently a part of a gun show business. Although the government has not said if the guns could be handed over, Federal prosecutors plan ‘‘to have a further discussion with the defendant.’’
The bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist bomb attack carried out by Timothy McVeigh, an anti-government militant who was a Gulf War veteran and was later executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001 for his actions.
McVeigh worked Nichols, who was convicted of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and of involuntary manslaughter of eight federal agents. He is currently facing 161 consecutive sentences of life in prison with no hope of parole since 2004.
The bombing murdered 168 people and injured more than 680. It caused an estimated $652 million worth of damage, including 324 buildings, 86 cars and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings.
Source: The Guardian