OKLAHOMA CITY

0.cached.png

By Holly Bailey

See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.

Before 9/11, the 1995 bombing of the federal Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil, killing 168 people, including 19 children. Timothy McVeigh, a veteran of the 1991 gulf war, was convicted and, in 2001, put to death for carrying out the attack. In 1998 his co-conspirator Terry Nichols, a former Army buddy, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the bombing. Yet for many victims and Oklahoma prosecutors, that wasn't enough. The FBI is reopening the case to look for other conspirators. And on March 1--nearly nine years after the attack--Nichols will be back in court, this time facing state murder charges. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty. But a recent poll by the Tulsa World found that 70 percent of Oklahomans surveyed oppose a state trial. Nichols is already serving a life sentence, said some; others said the trial isn't worth the price tag--an estimated $4 million. But for some victims like Jim Denny, whose two kids still suffer from injuries received in the blast, money isn't the issue. "There comes a time when we have to let go," he says. "We should never forget, but it's time for us to move on, to heal."

By some accounts, many victims have. Just as it did for the federal trials, which were held in Denver, the local United Way offered financial and logistical assistance to survivors and relatives interested in attending Nichols's state trial, which was moved from Oklahoma City to McAlester, roughly 130 miles away. Last time nearly 1,000 people asked for help; this time, just 118 did.

Read More on News