Word: fortier
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
That very sparseness, however, indicates that the alleged conspiracy was a small-time affair in everything except the horror of its results. Only one alleged helper is named: Michael Fortier, who according to the indictment helped McVeigh case the Murrah building. Fortier pleaded guilty to a separate indictment charging him with transporting stolen property (guns sold to raise money to buy explosives) and perjury; he is committed to testifying against McVeigh and Nichols. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with TIME, McVeigh's father and sister detailed the FBI's intense, successful campaign to persuade her to cooperate with its investigation...
...striking picture for the TV cameras, Tigar sought mainly to disconnect Nichols from many of the events in the indictment. One sign proclaimed TERRY NICHOLS WASN'T THERE--"there" being the scene of the bombing. Another sign insisted that Nichols was out of the country when McVeigh and Fortier allegedly cased the Murrah building in December. That strategy, whatever it does for Nichols, will not be any great help to Jones in convincing a jury that McVeigh is innocent...
...Fortier's role in the eventual trial or trials is another large question mark. Press accounts have touted him as the prosecution's "star witness," but he could also be a risky one, since the defense may allege that he is lying to save his skin. Reno and lead prosecutor Joseph Hartzler insist that Fortier was indicted on every count on which they had enough evidence to convict. He could get a maximum sentence of 23 years, though that might be reduced because of his cooperation...
Nonetheless, the defense is certain to raise sharp questions. Couldn't Fortier have been indicted as a full participant in the conspiracy, and so face the death penalty, as McVeigh and Nichols will? In order to save his life, did Fortier agree to say whatever the government wanted him to say? Jones has pledged a blistering attack on Fortier's credibility, focusing on his statements on TV shortly after the bombing that he didn't think McVeigh had anything to do with it. Fortier has pleaded guilty to perjury for telling investigators roughly the same thing at about the same...
Exactly how the government got Fortier to agree to testify is not clear. But TIME has obtained a vivid account of how investigators persuaded McVeigh's sister Jennifer to provide the prosecution with two typewritten statements, even though she is fiercely loyal to her elder brother (she is 21, Timothy 27). Jennifer and her father William McVeigh agreed to the TIME interview under terms negotiated with Timothy McVeigh's lawyers that tightly restricted what could be asked. Thus Jennifer would not discuss what she had told the grand jury. But as to how FBI and other federal investigators had treated...