Ricks: Padilla isn't John Doe No. 2 (4th link in list of video clips)
Posted on 06/12/2002 6:29:02 AM PDT by Mixer
This morning I was watching Fox and friends while I was getting ready for work and caught the tail end of them saying that there was another connection between OKC and the dirty bomber. Apparently Terry Nichols(sp?) knew someone with the last name as the dirty bomber. Ex-Wife or something to that effect??? Not sure of all the details. Wondering if any other freepers saw/heard this?
Ricks: Padilla isn't John Doe No. 2 (4th link in list of video clips)
Stephen Jones, the chief defense counsel for Timothy McVeigh, the first of two men convicted in the tragic 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, lays out a case that McVeigh and Terry Nichols, also convicted in the bombing, did not act alone. In his attempt to defend McVeigh, Jones traveled the globe to turn up every possible scrap of information that might lead him to the "others unknown" cited by the grand jury that heard evidence in the bombing case. Some of the evidence is compelling, including the severed leg that did not match any of the victims; Jones is convinced it belonged to "John Doe number two," an unidentified man credited with planting the bomb in the Murrah Office Building. Jones also lays out a very strong argument that Terry Nichols was in touch with Muslim fundamentalist terrorists in the Philippines and that he asked them to help him build a bomb. But Jones's refusal to break his attorney-client privilege by discussing anything that McVeigh said to him forces the author to walk a tightrope, revealing nothing about his client's role in the bombing while trying to outline the potential involvement of others.
Non-conspiracy buffs may find it far-fetched that the United States government would want to cover up information about the possible involvement of Muslim fundamentalists or white supremacists in the bombing, but Jones has two arguments to support the idea.
First, he suggests, the government was trying to cover its tracks for not having heeded various danger signs before the bombing took place. In addition, this was too big and too horrible a crime to go unpunished; it had to be closed without question and with no suspects left at large. For those who are persuaded by Jones's arguments, the chilling question remains: when--and where--will the "others unknown" strike next? --Linda Killian
Book Description
In this startling book, the state-appointed chief defense counsel for Timothy McVeigh argues that to assume that the bombing of the Murrah Office Building in Oklahoma City was merely the work of two "mad bombers" is to ignore the real meaning of the most serious episode of terrorism in American history. Others Unknown does not merely reconstruct the trial. Stephen Jones had access to a vast amount of research material and possesses an insider's understanding of the behind-the-scenes politics..
No, only vague references so far to tickets within that time frame.
This is from today's New York Times story, for what it's worth:
Maulana Shafeyet-Mohamed, a religious leader at the Darul Uloom Islamic Institute in Pembroke Pines, Fla., said he recalled a man with a striking resemblance to Mr. Padilla and who used the name Ibriham as having attended religion classes at the center in 1995 or 1996.
These dates are more specific than the Sun Sentinel story, but they are also conveniently blurry if Padilla was indeed involved in OKC.
From your photo, Bunting looks about as much like the composite as I do--and that isn't much! The former FBI chief interviewed indicated the composite came solely from the Murrah building. I thought it included the Ryder truck rental employees. Anybody know?
News reporter on the radio said, "In otherwords, he is a prisoner!"
That is me you hear in the background scrolling through your text and links.
In England they have the famous "Birmingham six", who were arrested for planting a bomb in a Birmingham bar and killing a number of people. The government was put under so much pressure by the media, that they arrested 6 persons and made up some of the evidence and they were sent to prison for life.
One of them died in prison and 15 years later they set free the remainder, as it was discovered the evidence was tarnished.
I am not saying that Padilla is innocent, but the US should make sure tht he is given the legal rights he is entitled, it is understandable that the government is scared and they seem to be in crisis management mode, but the British made the mistake of "internment" in Ireland, with disasterous consequences.
I also think the photo of Bunting bears little, if any, resemblance to the composite. According to this article, you're right about the truck rental employee giving the description for the composite:
- the government shed light on the mystery of John Doe No. 2, the square-jawed man in a baseball cap whose face is known worldwide.
- In documents filed yesterday, the government says Bunting rented a Ryder truck in Junction City, Kan., a full day after McVeigh allegedly rented the truck that carried the fertilizer bomb to Oklahoma. The sketch of John Doe No. 2 was based on descriptions from a rental-truck mechanic, Tom Kessinger, who now admits he was mistaken.
- The document said Kessinger "is now confident he had Todd Bunting in mind when he provided the description for the John Doe No. 2 composite." Prosecutors said Kessinger realized he had made a mistake when meeting with a prosecutor and two FBI agents Nov. 22, 1996. Bunting has no connection to the bombing.
Hmmm, I'm going to have to watch the video again. If Ricks said the composite came from the Murrah Bldg., then that doesn't jive with court testimony.
Yesterday, new details emerged yesterday about al Muhajir's life in the United States, including his conversion from Roman Catholicism to Islam in the mid-1990s. The leader of the Darul Uloom Institute, a school in Pembroke Pines, Fla., where al Muhajir studied Islam in 1995, described him as an extremely observant Muslim who stood out at the relatively liberal facility.
I've got to say, I suspect this is government disinformation. Other stories don't have him attending Darul Uloom until 1998 or so. Other stories (like this morning's one about the Taco Bell) have him converting to Islam in '92 or '93. I suspect these stories appeared today in the Washington Post and NY Times to try to shoot down any speculation about what Padilla was doing in '95.
THere are categories of people that have similarities in their facial features -this is why sketch artists are able to build com[osites with witnesses. However, this will only eliminate classes of people, not all people that are in a class that look similar. And sometimes a witnsees will remember one part wrong-they will get the nose or lips or.. wrong. More witnesses are better for making sure that all parts of the face get identified correctly. I do not know how many people were used to make the JD#2 sketch. If only one, then there is greater chance of the sketch not being as accurate as you would want unlless the witness saw the suspect at close range for a period of time or for repeated times.
THe are also two different FBI JD#2 sketches which look different to me.
If we knew the heighth and build of Azmath and Padilla and JD#2 we would be more likely to rule them in or out. I recall that JD#2 was supposed to be muscular, slightly stocky and about 5 feet ten inches tall.
This approach helped me immeasurably with the John DOes seen by the Travelers aide witnesses. All the John DOes at Travelers Aide had the right height and build for my sketch suspects. And in one case I have a color photograph which matched the hair and skin color perfectly with the description of a John DOe by the witness. In another case it is known that a suspect identified by a witness also also had the right eye color (bright blue) as the person or John Doe whose sketch I had.
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