More samplings of comments from OKC victims/families today, ending with the barf alert topics last (snips):
~~~~~
[AssocPress] ...
"One of the victims of the bombing said she was shocked Michael Fortier was getting out and hoped he wouldn't lead a life of crime.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he gets right back into what he was into and get into trouble," said Janet Beck, a Social Security Administration claims representative who survived the blast. "That's my complaint against the justice system. They're so busy trying to control people, they don't do much in terms of education and helping them to readjust."
Martin Cash, a Veterans Administration employee who lost his left eye in the blast, was among the victims who filed a petition seeking to provide testimony at Fortier's 1998 sentencing.
"I understand the plea bargain, which was in order to get him to testify, but I think the plea bargain should have been, `We'll give you life instead of giving you the death penalty,'" said Cash, who retired from the VA in 1996. "I'm just sorry he's getting out."
----
[NYTimes]
Release of Figure in '95 Bombing Rekindles Fears
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
Published: January 19, 2006
"For a long time, the people of Oklahoma City knew it was coming: the day that Michael J. Fortier would get out of prison after serving time for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building that killed 168 people and injured more than 400.
But as Mr. Fortier's release on Friday approaches, the deal cut to secure his testimony against Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols is again gnawing at some of the survivors and relatives of the victims. They worry about a possible future threat posed by Mr. Fortier, 37, and the undisclosed terms of his release, in particular whether he will gain federal witness protection.
"It makes me nervous, it angers me, it frustrates me," said Dot Hill, who was working for the General Services Administration in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995, and credits her survival to leaving her desk for coffee just as the bomb exploded outside.
"It's an agreement we have to stand by," Ms. Hill said in a telephone interview, "but it puts us on high alert again."
....
While unease over Mr. Fortier's release had been on the minds of survivors and relatives of victims for months, the Bureau of Prisons notification that reached many families on Tuesday caught them by surprise.
"I knew it was coming up, but I didn't know it would be the day before my birthday," said John Cole, who lost two godsons in the blast.
Mr. Cole said he considered Mr. Fortier and his wife culpable for not exposing the scheme. As a result, he said, "they should be right up there with Terry Nichols."
Ms. Hill, the survivor who took the coffee break, said she "was fine" with Mr. Fortier's plea bargain at the time it was reached, "but now that I know he's wandering around, I'm wondering, are they monitoring him because of his past and beliefs?"
"We don't know if any of that stuff has changed," she said.
Ken Thompson, external affairs director of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, the organization in Oklahoma City formed to commemorate the victims, said he understood the consternation but did not fully share it.
"Most people understand that if it wasn't for him as a witness we might not have had these verdicts," said Mr. Thompson, whose mother was killed in the bombing.
----
Survivors Of Violent Crime Are Outraged At The Impending Early Release Of Convicted Oklahoma City Bombing Witness
January 18 2006
Survivors of violent crime across the nation are outraged at the impending early release of convicted Oklahoma City bombing witness Michael Fortier, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 20, 2006.
....
"Marsha Kight, mother of Frankie Merrell, who died in the blast, spoke with survivors and victims of crime across the nation, requesting support in her efforts to keep Fortier behind bars. She firmly believes that this is an insult to all of the victims and survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing if he is released under probation and that when a sentence is given by a judge, the time should actually be served. She also states that a mere 12 years and a $200,000 fine were hardly enough of a sentence for the 168 lives that were lost. Kight states that this is an outrage to all victims and survivors of crime and is just another abuse of crime victims by the criminal justice system.
~~~~~~~~~~
And the rest of it ...
----
Lawyer Says Fortier Wants to See Family
Posted on Wed, Jan. 18, 2006
ROCHELLE HINES
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY - The government's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case is looking forward to spending time with family after serving his sentence, his attorney said Wednesday.
....
"Essentially, he has served about 85 percent of his sentence, which was all he was supposed to serve. He got no special favors or anything like that," McGuire said.
Fortier received three years of supervised release under federal sentencing guidelines, McGuire said.
"I think he's in a very strong, upbeat mood to be with his family and is looking forward to spending very personal time with them and getting resettled with them," McGuire said.
....
McGuire said Michael and Lori Fortier remain married and that she has remained in Arizona. McGuire would not comment on whether Fortier is part of a witness protection program.
"I think there are a lot of people that want to target him, but I'm not sure where Michael and his family will be, where it's safe for him to be," McGuire said.
McGuire and federal officials declined to reveal where Fortier had been incarcerated. As for Fortier's future, McGuire could only speculate.
"I don't think he's got all the answers yet," McGuire said. "He needs to spend some time with family to get those."
----
"A lawyer for Mr. Fortier said "the government is concerned" about the release as well.
"I am not able to answer questions on that," the lawyer, Mike McGuire, said of Mr. Fortier's possible inclusion in a witness protection program.
But, he added, "there's a real fear that some of these victims are still angry. That's why the government is concerned."
Mr. McGuire was appointed by a court and said he left Oklahoma City for Tulsa in 1996 after repeated harassment for taking the case.
Mr. McGuire would not say where Mr. Fortier had been incarcerated or where he and his wife, Lori, who also testified and has been living in Arizona with their two children, would go now. He described Mr. Fortier as "tremendously thrilled with the prospect of finally being released" and "excited about his future."
"He's going to put all his resources into providing for his family," Mr. McGuire said.
He said the Fortiers would not speak to reporters. Reached by phone, Mr. Fortier's mother, Irene, in Kingman, Ariz., said she had nothing to say and hung up."
----
Good story here, read all at link:
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/011906dntexfortier.1742cf8f.html
New life, identity await Fortier as he leaves prison
Key witness in Oklahoma bombing trials to go into protection program
09:00 PM CST on Wednesday, January 18, 2006
By ARNOLD HAMILTON / The Dallas Morning News
OKLAHOMA CITY – On Friday, Michael Fortier will cease to exist.
The star prosecution witness against Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols is scheduled to be released after 10 ½ years in federal custody and ... vanish.
A new identity. A new hometown. A new life story.
.....
Thanks for researching and posting those various articles. After reading them all it sure sounds as if he's going into witness protection, (with his wife no less... ) and from what I seem to be reading the reasoning is that it would be to protect them from victims of OKBOMB. I have no doubt there are those who wish to kill him themselves: but would they really act upon that? Most people - even those visited by these horrible tragedies that tear their loved ones from them with violence - do not become murderers themselves.
The "x, y, z" unrelated crimes/plea deal scenario does certainly sound feasible, but I still believe there is more to this crime than we have been told.