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Trial Over OKC Bombing Videos Ends

The four day trial over Jesse Trentadue's attempt to obtain additional Oklahoma City Bombing videos has ended. The judge reserved ruling.

The FBI presented witnesses today to say the tapes never existed, which was an 11th hour claim. Up until the last few weeks, its defense had been they couldn't find any such tapes.

Oklahoma trooper Charlie Hangar, who arrested Timothy McVeigh, testified his videocam didn't start recording until McVeigh was in the back seat. Trentadue says reports show another version of Hangar's tape exists that shows cars passing by, including a brown pickup truck that belonged to an acquaintance of McVeigh's.

Another FBI witness testified the report about an FBI agent who tried to sell a tape showing McVeigh and John Doe #2 at the Murrah building to CBS and Dateline was a hoax.

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And yet another Government witness testified the cameras at the Murrah building hadn't been operational for more than a year prior to the bombing.

One witness, who had been scheduled to testify for Trentadue was a no show. Trentadue said an FBI agent visited witness John Matthews last week and told him not to appear.

Lawyers for the FBI denied the allegation and said it was Matthews who had contacted them asking how he could get out of testifying. Matthews could not be located to testify, they told the judge.

“This is a serious accusation,” Judge Waddoups said. He ordered the FBI agent who spoke with Matthews to appear before him next month in a hearing to ferret out the truth.

According to this version, the FBI's lawyers first said they knew nothing about a visit to Matthews:

The DOJ attorneys indicated they had not known about the alleged visit or the man’s decision not to testify.

As to who Matthews is:

According to court documents, Matthews was expected to testify about a major government investigation known as "Patriot Conspiracy," or PATCON, and how evidence was gathered and records pertaining to evidence were prepared or maintained by the FBI at the time of the Murrah Federal Building bombing.

It appears the question of whether there was a John Doe #2 who assisted McVeigh and Nichols will never be answered. All Trentadue is asking is that he be allowed to conduct the search for the tapes, rather than the FBI. If the tapes ever existed, and I'm not convinced they did, surely the FBI would not leave them in any place Trentadue might search.

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