At the same conference, a panel devoted to Jaynes was also held, with John Limber ( University of New Hampshire ), Marcel Kuijsten, John Hainly ( Southern University ), Scott Greer ( University of Prince Edward Island ), and Brian J. McVeigh presenting relevant research.

Within 90 minutes of the explosion, Timothy McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon.

Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Terry Nichols to the attack ; Nichols was arrested, and within days both were charged.

McVeigh, an American militia movement sympathizer who was a Gulf War veteran, had detonated an explosive-filled Ryder truck parked in front of the building.

McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.

Michael and Lori Fortier testified against McVeigh and Nichols ; Michael was sentenced to 12 years in prison for failing to warn the U. S. government, and Lori received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.

McVeigh wore a printed T-shirt with the motto of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Sic semper tyrannis (" Thus always to tyrants ", which was shouted by John Wilkes Booth immediately after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln ) and " The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants " ( from Thomas Jefferson ).

McVeigh was arrested within 90 minutes of the explosion, as he was traveling north on Interstate 35 near Perry in Noble County, Oklahoma.

After booking McVeigh, Hanger searched his police car and found a business card McVeigh had hidden while he was handcuffed.

McVeigh was also identified by Lea McGown of the Dreamland Motel, who remembered him parking a large yellow Ryder truck in the lot ; McVeigh had signed in under his real name at the motel, using an address that matched the one on his forged license and the charge sheet at the Perry Police Station.

McVeigh's sister Jennifer was accused of illegally mailing bullets to McVeigh, but she was granted immunity in exchange for testifying against him.

McVeigh later stated that he was unaware of the day-care center when choosing the building as a target, and if he had known "... it might have given me pause to switch targets.

McVeigh was represented by a defense counsel team of six principal attorneys led by Stephen Jones.

According to law professor Douglas O. Linder, McVeigh wanted Jones to present a " necessity defense "— which would argue that he was in " imminent danger " from the government ( that his bombing was intended to prevent future crimes by the government, such as the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents ).

Jones also believed that McVeigh was part of a larger conspiracy, and sought to present him as " the designated patsy ", but McVeigh disagreed with Jones arguing that rationale for his defense.

They included a confession said to have been inadvertently included on a computer disk that was given to the press, which McVeigh believed seriously compromised his chances of getting a fair trial.

On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on eleven counts of murder and conspiracy.

Although the defense argued for a reduced sentence of life imprisonment, McVeigh was sentenced to death.

McVeigh introduced his sister to anti-government literature, but his father had little interest in these views.

On November 21, 1997, President Bill Clinton signed S. 923, special legislation introduced by Senator Arlen Specter to bar McVeigh and other veterans convicted of crimes from being buried in any military cemetery.

While in the military, McVeigh used much of his spare time to read about firearms, sniper tactics, and explosives.

The government also imposed new firearms restrictions in 1994 that McVeigh believed threatened his livelihood.

McVeigh frequently quoted and alluded to the novel The Turner Diaries ; while rejecting the book's racism, he claimed to appreciate its interest in firearms.

The search turned up blasting caps, detonating cords, ground ammonium nitrate, barrels made of plastic similar to fragments found at the bombing site, 33 firearms, anti-government warfare literature, a receipt for ammonium nitrate fertilizer with McVeigh's fingerprints on it, a telephone credit card that McVeigh had used when he was shopping for bomb making equipment, and a hand-drawn map of downtown Oklahoma City.

Motivated by his hatred of the federal government and angered by what he perceived as its mishandling of the Waco Siege ( 1993 ) and the Ruby Ridge incident ( 1992 ), McVeigh timed his attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that ended the siege at Waco.

McVeigh wrote a letter to Moore in which he claimed that the robbery had been committed by government agents.

As he drove toward the Murrah Federal Building in the Ryder truck, McVeigh carried with him an envelope containing pages from The Turner Diaries — a fictional account of white supremacists who ignite a revolution by blowing up the FBI headquarters at 9: 15 one morning using a truck bomb.

Sketch used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation | FBI ( left ) and McVeigh ( right )

In addition to arguing that the bombing could not have been carried out by two men alone, Jones also attempted to create reasonable doubt by arguing that no one had seen McVeigh near the scene of the crime, and that the investigation into the bombing had lasted only two weeks.

After President George W. Bush approved the execution ( McVeigh was a federal inmate and federal law dictates that the President must approve the execution of federal prisoners ), he was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11.

Additional theories claim the bombing was done by the government to frame the militia movement or to provide the impetus for new antiterrorism legislation while using McVeigh as a scapegoat.

While in high school, McVeigh became interested in computers and hacked into government computer systems on his Commodore 64, under a handle – " The Wanderer " – borrowed from the song by Dion DiMucci.

McVeigh was reprimanded by the military for purchasing a " White Power " T-shirt at a Ku Klux Klan protest against black servicemen who wore what he viewed as " Black Power " T-shirts around the army base.

McVeigh dissociated himself from his boyhood friend, Steve Hodge, by sending a 23-page farewell letter to him.

Shortly after the bombing, while driving on I-35 in Noble County, near Perry, Oklahoma, McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charles J. Hanger from Pawnee, Oklahoma.

McVeigh was wearing a T-shirt at that time with a picture of Abraham Lincoln and the motto: sic semper tyrannis (' Thus always to tyrants '), the state motto of Virginia and also the words shouted by John Wilkes Booth after he shot Lincoln.

On August 10, 1995, McVeigh was indicted on 11 federal counts, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by explosives and eight counts of first-degree murder.

McVeigh tried to calm his mother by saying, " Think of it this way.

Both Fortiers testified that McVeigh had told them of his plans to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

McVeigh told Fortier of his plans to blow up a federal building, but Fortier declined to participate.

Nichols also said that in 1995 McVeigh told him that FBI official Larry Potts, who had supervised the Ruby Ridge and Waco operations, had directed McVeigh to blow up a government building.