Prosecutors believe video of OKC bombing still exists
by James Beaty, CNHI News Service
8 years ago | 203 views | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend | print
McALESTER -- The question of whether video, photographs or slides exist showing the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building remained unresolved Wednesday.

John Culbertson of Centerville, Va., said Wednesday that if he had access to such images, he would have published them long ago.

Culbertson testified at the Pittsburg County Courthouse in McAlester during a pre-trial hearing in the state murder case of Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.

His testimony didn't convince Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney Sandra Howell-Elliott, the lead prosecutor in the case.

It didn't convince Nichols' lead defense attorney, Brian Hermanson, either.

Attorneys on both sides told District Judge Steven Taylor they would like to see computers, disks and other electronic records seized from Culbertson reviewed before they are returned to him.

Taylor issued a ruling near 5 p.m. Wednesday ordering that the computers remain in the custody of Oklahoma City police until they can be reviewed for all items related to the bombing of the Murrah building.

The judge said he was aware that U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III has ordered the computers and other electronic records returned to Culbertson. Taylor said his ruling should expedite their return.

Nichols is set to begin trial in McAlester on March 1 on 161 state counts of first-degree murder in the bombing of the Murrah building. He was convicted in federal court in 1997 of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy and handed a life sentence.

Co-conspirator Timothy McVeigh, convicted of federal murder charges in the deaths of eight federal agents in the bombing, was executed in 2001.

Oklahoma prosecutors decided to charge Nichols at the state level after his federal trial.

Attorneys on both sides of Nichols' state case want to know more about photographic slides or videotape said to exist depicting the actual explosion in Oklahoma City.

Culbertson's computers were seized by Oklahoma City police and Fairfax County police after Oklahoma City Police Detective Mark Easley obtained a search warrant.

Easley said in an affidavit that Dallas attorney Thomas W. Mills Jr. saw a video Culbertson showed him on a computer in 1998 that showed the federal building prior to the bombing, followed by a small glow at the bottom of the building and then a "ball of fire."

Culbertson, who traveled from Virginia to McAlester after being ordered to do so by the Pittsburg County judge, maintains that he operates the Washington Bureau of the Arkansas Chronicle and Sienna Broadcasting at his home.

Culbertson, former chief of staff for former Ohio Congressional Rep. James Traficant, said he's already made the material available to a House Judiciary Committee which investigated issues surrounding the bombing.

Taylor ordered Culbertson to be back in McAlester on Feb. 18 in case he's needed for further testimony when the hearing resumes.
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