(역사) 오클라호마 폭파 15주년
(역사) 오클라호마 폭파 15주년
Heart of darkness. 15 years to the day after Oklahoma City. We hear for the first time the chilling confession of the man who did it. Nightly News begins now. This was the scene this morning at the memorial to the 168 people who died in one of the worst terrorist attacks ever in this country. The Oklahoma City bombing 15 years ago today. The memorial stands at what was the site of the Alfred P Murrah federal building there which was of course destroyed in the blast. That building was blown up by a former US army sergeant Timothy McVeigh who looked many like the kid next door.
Tonight, MSNBC will debut a documentary with audio recordings that have never been heard in public before. Recordings that reveal Timothy McVeigh’s own chilling confession. Some of them are bracing to hear. Our report from our justice correspondent Pete Williams.
Two days after the Oklahoma City bombing, the world got its first look at Timothy McVeigh as federal agents took him into custody. He would later say he was determined to look proud of his murderous attack on the government. “I had to concentrate on where those steps were going to be, without dipping my head down and looking down, because people would take dipping my head down as a sign of fear or something.”
That’s McVeigh’s voice recorded in 1999 in a federal prison in Colorado by reporter and author Lou Michelle. Michelle calls the audio tapes valuable history. It’s the only known time McVeigh actually ever admitted his horrific crime. Building a 7000-pound bomb, driving into Oklahoma City in a rented truck, then lighting the fuse a few blocks before parking at his target, Alfred P Murrah federal office building..
These are the key items of evidence. Pieces of that truck found in the debris now on display at FBI headquarters. A part number led agents to the place where the truck was rented. And eventually to McVeigh himself. The explosion killed 168 people including 19 children and injured hundreds more. In the interviews, McVeigh showed no compassion. “You’re not the first mother to lose a kid. You’re not the first grandparent to lose a granddaughter or a grandson.” Two years after these interviews in the spring of 2001, McVeigh was executed. Pete Williams, NBC News, Washington.