Posted on 10/16/2005 11:02:43 AM PDT by MizSterious
The FBI read the message to the father Friday, after he came to Oklahoma to clear out his son's university-owned apartment.
Joel "Joe" Henry Hinrichs III, an engineering student, died when his bomb went off about 100 yards from the packed football stadium during the second quarter of OU's night game against Kansas State.
Hinrichs, 21, was from Colorado Springs, Colo. He had a reputation as a loner and had struggled at times with his grades. His parents had begun divorce proceedings.
Joel Hinrichs Jr. said he understood investigators found the message on the computer screen when they arrived at the apartment.
"It was a single line of text on his computer," said the father, who lives in Colorado Springs. "The cursor was still blinking at the end."
The father said he could not recall the exact wording but said his son used profanity in the message and was obviously very angry. "He wrote he was dissatisfied with the situation and was going to quit living," the father said.
His description of the message is consistent with the recollection of others who have been briefed about the investigation by the FBI.
No links to terrorist groups
FBI officials have said they may never know whether the student wanted to get inside the stadium. The student did not have a season ticket.
FBI officials also have said the investigation has not found any links between the student and terrorist organizations.
His father said he thinks his son was just committing suicide and never intended to hurt anyone else.
The father said the FBI on Friday showed him the fractured bench where his son was sitting when the bomb exploded and photos of his son's headless body and a tattered backpack.
The father said when cleaning out the apartment, he learned his son apparently had been having trouble sleeping and had bought Sominex, a sleep aid.
The younger Hinrichs had a long fascination with ammunition and bombs, his relatives and friends said. Inside his bedroom in Norman were several used metal artillery shells -- the largest about 2 feet long. He had belts of used brass shell casings, a box of spent bullets and military ammo containers.
He also had items more typical of many college students -- textbooks, empty liquor bottles, magazines and a martial arts movie videotape.
The father allowed two reporters from The Oklahoman into the bedroom briefly Thursday.
Bomb experts removed explosive-related materials from the apartment Oct. 2. Contributing: Randy Ellis
"The so called computer suicide note left on this computer doesn't sound like something written by an American born in this country."
I'm with you on that, Grampa Dave. I once had an acquaintance, originally from the Mediterranean but in the US nearly all his adult life, who got flustered because he had cut himself on the hand, and he blurted out "oh NO my blood it is exiting." Those grammatical patterns are tough to shake, particularly under stress.
"oh NO my blood it is exiting." Those grammatical patterns are tough to shake, particularly under stress.
Your example above is an excellent one. In stress and even in times of relaxation, these non American grammatical patterns pop out.
Darksheare and I were able to spot a Canadian student troll whenever she posted on Free Republic. I even got her to admit that she was Canadian in one of her threads before the Zot came.
Yeah, I remember the Canuck troll.
I think the one time they ticked off a bunch of Canadian FReepers as well.
Was quite.. interesting.
Knew I should have saved the grand compendium from that troll though.
I have a feeling they may be back and we haven't run across them yet.
Been awhile.
"Darksheare and I were able to spot a Canadian student troll whenever she posted on Free Republic."
They forget to use "z" instead of "s" in words such as specialization and organization. They also "favour" spelling "favor" with an extra "u," as well as many other similar words, such as color, behavior, etcetera.
But, this could just as easily describe Brit, Scot or Irish. Aussies have their own written quirks in comparison to American English, on top of this.
What, specifically, tipped you off to "Canadian-ness," though?
"The story just grew and grew, as told by Muslims, most of whom weren't even there."
"They seem to be bluffing us infidels, I do believe. Trying to set someone up for a lawsuit."
That makes sense about them "growing" the story. Especially the part in the latest interview with Barakat when he said, (paraphrased I think) "If they come back then there's a problem"
I do think someone is bluffing to be sure. It's too bad that anyone asking any hard questions of these people will either apparently get a load full at this point. Seems they want the misinformation out there... I wonder why that could be?
Thanks for posting the article and the other link to the AP story. I'm glad to see they have an evacuation plan now instead of just padlocking everyone inside!
Thank you Nancie. I've got a semi-fondness for those who write these tongue-in-cheek editorials. They can cut right to the chase and leave you laughing at the same time.
Visiting the page it reminds me of the free paper in Denver - Westword. That's one of the things I miss now that I've moved out of the city. Sometimes, they were the only paper reporting the truth about various events in and around town.
Sure does defy belief -- people I know at OU think the suicide note is a fraud -- looks like that spin is failing miserably.
There was a guy troll several years back that used the word defence and instead of defense and other such words while pretending to be from the US.
Our benches are heavy wooden benches -- I don't remember see any concrete benches in that area.
"Our benches are heavy wooden benches -- I don't remember see any concrete benches in that area."
Well, you're there and have seen firsthand, and I haven't. I must've been remembering the shots of the concrete pad that the bench was bolted down upon.
That's my scenario as well -- his assignment failed so they blew him up not to have anyone around to talk about what was going to happen. Don't think the others figured to have the authorities swoop down on the apartment so fast or that Lincoln and evidence they took from the car would have been gone from Norman IMHO.
There is more to this that they were able to finger these people so rapidly. Smells like undercover or snitch.
Bench was on a concrete pad -- all the benches on campus look pretty much the same and are bolted down for obvious reasons.
A couple of articles described the benches as teak (wood).
I don't really know the timetable on when the computer was actually seized on Sunday, but it was my impression from everything I've read that they first and foremost had to make certain that no more bombs or boobytraps were present in those apartments (his and the others in his building) before they did *anything* else. That took most of the day, as we know.
I wondered how the roomy knew about who committed suicide and was already moved to a new address before the body was identified.
I never paid attention to the type, I just knew they were wood -- they are all over campus and actually comfortable to sit on which surprised me when I first saw them.
Exactly -- everytime something comes out recently, it raises more questions.
Not quite. The story indicates that the message was on the computer when the FBI searched the apartment, and then reported to the father when he met with them.
Of course the fly in the ointment on that story is why they, FBI and Boren, were reporting no note for some time after the apartment was searched. So, either they were lying then, or they are lying now. They could have been lying both times, but they could not have been telling the truth both then and now.
Maybe a Pakistani roommate wrote it.
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