Oklahoma museum seeks bombing witness

Michael Fortier is believed to be in protection program

OKLAHOMACITY— Representatives of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and Museum have been privately seeking the cooperation of a convicted associate of Timothy McVeigh, now believed to be hidden in the government’s witness protection program.

OKLAHOMA CITY Representatives of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and Museum have been privately seeking the cooperation of a convicted associate of Timothy McVeigh, now believed to be hidden in the government’s witness protection program.

Museum officials have contacted the U.S. Marshals Service, which manages the secret program, for help in asking Michael Fortier for an oral history that would outline his relationship with the bomber and his decision not to alert authorities before the attack, said Kerri Watkins, the memorial’s executive director.

The bombing remains the deadliest assault carried out by domestic terrorists in the U.S.

The Arizona man served as a star witness against McVeigh in the bomber’s 1997 trial, after striking a deal with federal prosecutors in which he agreed to testify that McVeigh confided his plan to target the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City with the powerful fertilizer bomb that left 168 dead two decades ago.

Officials will mark the 20th anniversary of the attack Sunday in ceremonies at the downtown memorial, where empty chairs arrayed on the vast lawn where the building once stood symbolize