The FBI Looks Back At The Oklahoma City Bombing

 

The FBI offers a story on the Oklahoma City bombing, an act of domestic terrorism that occurred 20 years ago.

As Oklahoma City and the country prepare to mark the 20th anniversary of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing on April 19, 1995, FBI.gov looks back at the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in the nation’s history through the eyes of special agents who were there and a survivor who continues to honor the victims by sharing her remarkable story.

 

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 was the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism in U.S. history, resulting in the deaths of 168 people. In a matter of seconds, the blast destroyed most of the nine-story building, incinerated nearby vehicles, and damaged or destroyed more than 300 other buildings.
 

The Ryder truck packed with nearly 5,000 pounds of explosives that Timothy McVeigh parked in front of the Murrah building that Wednesday morning killed 168 people, among them 19 children—most of whom were in the building’s daycare center. The youngest victim was 4 months old. Hundreds of all ages were injured.
 

In a matter of seconds, the blast destroyed most of the nine-story concrete and granite building, and the surrounding area looked like a war zone. Dozens of cars were incinerated, and more than 300 nearby buildings were damaged or destroyed. Immediately, the FBI turned its full attention to Oklahoma City. The OKBOMB investigation, as it became known, remains one of the largest and most complex cases the FBI has ever undertaken.

 

You can read the rest of the story and view photos and videos via the below link:

 

https://stories.fbi.gov/oklahoma-bombing/ 

'Child 44': A Film Based On Tom Rob Smith's Thriller

Although the early reviews of the film Child 44 have not been kind, I look forward to seeing the film, as I enjoyed the Tom Rob Smith thriller that the film is based on.

The thriller, set in the bad old days of Stalin's Soviet Union, is about a Russian serial killer and the MGB (forerunner to the KGB) officer out to catch him.

I wrote about Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 in my Crime Beat column.

Andrei Chikatilo is not as well known as his fellow serial killers Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, and if the Soviets had their way, no one would have ever heard of him.

 According to the Soviets, crime did not exist in their worker’s paradise. But as the dead bodies piled up, the killer who came to be known as The Rostov Ripper was finally caught and convicted of brutally murdering 52 women and children between the years 1978 and 1990.

Chikatilo told the Soviet court that he performed a service for the Soviet system by eliminating what he called “worthless people.” Chikatilo was executed in 1994.

HBO made a good film about Chikatilo called Citizen X and Tom Rob Smith has written a good fictional account of the Chikatilo case, called Child 44.

The 30-year-old writer said he was researching a screenplay when he came across the Chikatilo case.

“The more I dug into the case, the more clear it became that he evaded capture not because he was ingenious but because the Soviet criminal system was reluctant to admit he even existed,” Smith wrote in his web page http://tomrobbsmith.com/.

“Their preconceptions about their society were as important, if not more important than stopping these terrible murders,” Smith continued. “Reading the nonfiction account of the investigations was incredibly frustrating. My reaction was so strong I knew I wanted to tell my own version of the story.”

 

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/10/soviet-serial-killers-and-secret-speech.html

 

The Philly Rogue Cops Case: The Punching Bag In Courtroom 15A

Veteran crime reporter Ralph Cipriano is covering the federal so-called Philly rogue cop case for bigtrial.net.

At the start of his cross-examination, Jack McMahon greeted the prosecution's star witness with a slap upside the head.

"I'd appreciate it if you look at me when I talk," the defense lawyer admonished Jeffrey Walker.

McMahon, a flashy former prosecutor with a white mustache and a shaved head, then spent the next six hours pummeling the witness.

On the receiving end, Walker, a big bearded former narcotics cop who entered the courtroom wearing handcuffs and a drab green prison jumpsuit, seemed used to taking abuse.

"We know you were a thief, right?" McMahon asked the fallen cop that another defense lawyer has characterized to the jury as a train wreck.

"Yes, I was," Walker admitted.

"You're a thief and a historical liar," McMahon added.

"I lie," Walker admitted. "I continued my thievery until I was arrested."

On May 23, 2013, Walker got caught red-handed in an FBI sting operation planting cocaine on a drug dealer and helping himself to $15,000 of the dealer's money while undercover cameras were rolling. After he was arrested, Walker turned on six of his fellow former narcs, telling the feds that they used to routinely beat and rob drug dealers.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2015/04/the-punching-bag-in-courtroom-15a.html#more

FBI: More Than $100,000 Being Offered For Information In Unsolved 2008 Times Square Bombing

The FBI released a statement yesterday regarding their ongoing investigation of the 2008 bombing in Times Square.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department announced a reward of up to $115,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person or persons involved in the unsolved 2008 bombing of the United States Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square. The bombing may be connected to two other unsolved bombings in New York City—one at the British Consulate in 2005 and the other at the Mexican Consulate in 2007.

Through the course of the investigation, several people of interest have been identified and are actively being pursued. The origin of the components of the explosive device has been identified and is being investigated. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force thanks those who have come forward and assisted with the investigation thus far, but stressed that the public’s help is still needed. The case remains a top priority of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force due to the seriousness of the crime. There is no statute of limitations.

You can read the rest of the statement and view photos and a video via the below link:

http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2015/more-than-100-000-being-offered-for-information-in-unsolved-2008-times-square-bombing?utm_campaign=email-Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fbi-in-the-news&utm_content=421970

Philly Rouge Cops Case: Dirty Cop Fingers Brothers In Blue

Veteran crime reporter and author George Anastasia (seen in the above photo) is covering the federal trial of Philadelphia narcotics officers for bigtrial.net

They broke all the rules, Jeffrey Walker told a federal jury, but they made big arrests, so their supervisors looked the other way.

"It was nothing but a dog and pony show, that's all that it was," Walker said of the headline grabbing arrests and the enhanced status his unit had within the Philadelphia Police Department. All the while, he said he and other members of the Narcotics Field Unit were routinely stealing cash and narcotics from drug dealers and falsifying police reports to cover their tracks.

Asked how many times during his 10 plus years in the unit that he had robbed drug dealers and submitted false reports, Walker calmly replied, "Can't count them there were so many times."

Testifying today in the ongoing corruption trial of six other members of that narcotics squad, Walker, 46, said lying and stealing were a routine part of the job in the squad run by Thomas Liciardello, who has emerged as the lead defendant in the corruption case.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2015/04/dirty-cop-fingers-brothers-in-blue.html#more

You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of George Anastasia's Gotti's Rules via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2015/02/my-philadelphia-inquirer-review-of.html

Ole 'Dutch' Would Have Approved: The 'Justified' Finale And Producer Graham Yost on Who Survived — and Those Elmore Leonard Tributes

My wife and I enjoyed watching the finale of the TV series Justified tonight.

We've been watching Justified for the entire six seasons and we felt that the ending was done very well and in keeping with the unique style of the late great crime writer, Elmore "Dutch" Leonard.

Marisa Roffman at the Hollywood Reporter interviewed Graham Yost, the TV series producer, about the ending and the tributes to Elmore Leonard.

You can read the interview via the below link:

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from Justified's series finale.]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/justified-finale-graham-yost-raylan-788476

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Elmore Leonard via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/05/return-to-elmoreland-elmore-leonards.html

10 Things You Didn't Know About Lincoln's Assassination

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia offers 10 things you may not know about President Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Philly.com.

It was 150 years ago tonight the President Abraham Lincoln was shot while watching a play at Ford’s Theater. Lincoln died the next morning, and in the aftermath, some odd facts seemed to pop up.

Why wasn’t General Ulysses S. Grant in the theater box with Lincoln, as scheduled? Where was the President’s bodyguard? How many people were targeted in the plot? And how did all the assassins escape, at least temporarily?

Many of the questions were eventually answered, but some still linger today. And some people have doubts about one of the alleged plotters and her involvement in Lincoln’s murder.

1. Where was General Grant?

He wanted to be in New Jersey! Grant was advertised to be at the event, according to the New York Times, but he declined the invitation so he could travel with his wife to New Jersey to visit relatives.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/10_things_you_didnt_know_about_Lincolns_assassination.html