Posted on 06/11/2002 9:15:40 AM PDT by TankerKC
Point taken.
Nichols' second (current) wife, Marife Torres, is a Filipina. But I've seen nothing to indicate that his first wife, Lana Padilla, isn't American by birth. Have you seen an article mentioning Lana Padilla's background?
Nichols married Lana Padilla in 1981. She had two sons by a previous marriage (apparently to a man named Osentoski -- see this Denver Post article).
I gather that Padilla is her maiden name, which she probably reverted to after her divorce (or possibly she kept her own name when she married). I have no idea whether Jose Padilla is related to her. Padilla is actually quite a common last name; it's only on top of the possible similarity between John Doe #2 and Jose Padilla that the last names suggest anything. It may simply be a coincidence.
I too find a strong resemblance, but it's very hard to judge the truth of the matter.
As for Lana Padilla, note that she's not just an ex-wife from his past. Nichols maintained an amicable relationship with her (and he stayed involved with his son by her). In fact, in 1994, before the Oklahoma City bombing, Nichols went to the Philippines to be with his new wife and baby, Nichols left some things with Padilla -- a package containing a letter for Timothy McVeigh, the location of $20,000 in cash that he'd hidden in Padilla's home, etc. The story is slighly complicated; see this link, for instance [this is well documented in the media, this is just the first link to it I found in a fast search of the web].
On the other hand, Padilla is a common name, and there is really no evidence at all that Jose Padilla and Lana Padilla are related.
Thanks for the information. I didn't know that she had married a third time, which is why I surmised that Padilla was her maiden name.
Where did you find this -- is there an article on her on-line? And have you seen anything about her third husband? (If there is anything to the "Padilla" connection with the "dirty bomber," it would have to be via this Leonard Padilla. This hypothetical connection based on the Padilla name is seeming increasingly unlikely.)
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