"So Much For Blind Justice":

July 5th, 2001: A Review By Cate McCauley

Hits Tracking

This book is not really about whether Tim McVeigh was or wasn't guilty in the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19th, 1995. This is not a "true confessions" sleaze piece told by a self-aggrandizing "ambulance chaser" lawyer. All of that is really moot now that McVeigh has been executed. What this book is about is the fact that Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols could not have pulled off a bombing of this scale off by themselves (not because the author says so but because unimpeachable terrorism experts say so). It is about a government that seems blind to evidence pointing to a much broader conspiracy; possibly even foreign backed. It is also about the lengths to which your government will go to get its way. Truth and justice have NOTHING to do with what went on in United States vs McVeigh and this should concern every American deeply.

The author, McVeigh's appointed defense council, takes it from the beginning and walks the reader through the entire sordid process of trying to conduct a fair, Constitutionally guaranteed trail against the U.S. Justice Department who basically are in control of the whole process. This is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.

He explains how the prosecution made every effort to unfairly deny and or delay the defense's access to vital FBI evidence (remember the 3000 pages of documents that the prosecution "misplaced" that came out recently?) He tells how the prosecution lied and tampered with evidence. He tells how the FBI refused to let the defense examine the crime scene in detail and then demolished it before the trail began forever burying its secrets. He explains how the government manipulated and changed their stories to fit their version of the crime without any real evidence. He explains how the judge appointed by the government to preside over this case refused to let the defense bring witnesses and introduce evidence that would most certainly have brought reasonable doubt to a fair-minded jury. He explains how the same judge changed much of the way the Nichols case was handled which resulted in a verdict of life without parole instead of death and much more.

In short he lays out the blueprint for a government run lynching that spits in the face of everything we have been brought up to believe our justice system is about. This book will disgust anyone with the least bit of fairness and decency and it will tarnish forever any remaining belief that our government is above reproach.

Now, one might say that this is just "sour grapes" on the author's part because he lost. I suppose it could be but that's not the way the book is written and it is not the way the author comes through. He does not engage in any sort of bitterness one would associate with a "sore loser". In fact, he goes out of his way to congratulate and acknowledge many of his detractors and opponents despite their attacks on him before, during and after the trail. In every way the author comes across as a fair and decent man who is only interested in the truth. Read this book and also read "The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror". There is more to this than we are being told.

Lies aplenty, June 22, 2001:
Another Reviewer: A reader

This book raises loads of thought-provoking questions about who was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. . . There is no question even in Jones' account that McVeigh was involved. And Jones' protests that-- based on the theory that McVeigh may not have been the "triggerman"-- McVeigh might not have been guilty of murder is hogwash. If McVeigh was involved to the extent that even Jones admits, in the new edition, that he was, then he was guilty of murder by through accountability and conspiracy to commit murder, if nothing else. The book is an excellent foreshadowing to what really occurred on the eve of McVeigh's execution: The FBI turned up more documents. In this regard, Jones was correct. But the inferences and conclusions he draws from pieces of evidence or interpretations of pieces of evidence are far more grand than the evidence itself supports. Jones is not able present a convincing case for any theory other than that advanced by the government. He is, however, quite successful in demonstrating that perhaps the is evidence of the involvement of "others unknown" that could have been discovered had the government had an interest in finding it. As too often happens, it seems law enforcement rested on its collective laurels when sufficient evidence was gathered to support its theory of the case. I started reading this book a few days before McVeigh was executed and finish a few days after he was put to death. More than anything else, I am disappointed that he is gone, since no one in power will have any incentive to further investigate who was involved in preparing for and carrying out the bombing, nor, naturally, will McVeigh ever tell us the whole truth.

"The Defence of One Known to be Guilty", June 8, 2001: By Felix Matathias (Manhattan, NY, USA)

The title of my review (which is the title of the fourth chapter of the book) says it all. How could it be possible for Mr. Jones, a born and raised Oklahoman, a honest man, to defend McVeigh who had confessed to him right from the beginning that he was the one that bombed the Murrah Federal Building ? It was not possible! It was beyond the capabilities of any descent human being. But Jones felt obliged not to refuse the role that was assigned to him: "How could I turn it down, once it was offered, and ever look myself in the mirror again?" he confesses in his book. But lets take things from the beginning. There are two issues that I want to raise about this book:

(A) This book is Jones answer to the book "American Terrorist" by the two Buffalo reporters that was based on 75 hours of interviews with McVeigh, and which according to Jones opinion is "Tim's final manipulation of the world and of himself...". Jones felt obliged not to let MvVeigh have the last word and for that matter he wrote this second edition of the book.

(B)In this second edition of the book, Jones tells all. As he claims he is not any more bound by the lawyer-client privilege and for that reason he extensively uses defense material and his conversations with McVeigh and others to prove his point. As he explains, the privilege is automatically waived since McVeigh attacked his integrity as his defense lawyer by filling a motion for a new trial based on Jones incompetence as his defense lawyer.

So, what is this book all about ? Answer: Conspiracy, Conspiracy and again .... Conspiracy. Jones is convinced that McVeigh was not but a low ranked soldier in the conspiracy, probably the damn youngster that the big boys manipulated and let him caught after the bombing. He never believed McVeigh and he traveled the world to prove his point. He went to the Philippines to look for clues about Terry Nichols' extensive visits there (Nichols wife was from the Philippines). He tried to link Nichols with international terrorists and he claims that it was during his visits there that Nichols learned how to build bombs.

He went to England to meet with terrorist and bomb experts, he went to Israel, he went everywhere.... He tried to link individuals from Elohim City (the notorious ultra-right, Neo-Nazi, 100-residents piece of land across the Oklahoma-Arkansas borders). In his story he mixes German Neo Nazi leaders, FBI informants, suspicious phone calls, ultra-right activists,you name it. He talks about the extra leg that was found in the debris, the phone call supposedly made to the Washington FBI offices 30 minutes before the bombing, he talks about John Doe#2, 360 pages of speculation, missing leads, theories and frustration.

My opinion: he fails to support a coherent theory. He throws bits and pieces here and there, tries to make a big patch out of them but at the end of day he fails to prove a sound alternative. He failed to convince me and as we all know he failed to convince the jury, although throughout the book he protests that McVeigh did not and could not have a fair trial due to the nature of the crime.

So, is Mr. Jones the leader of all conspiracy theorists of the world ? Was he blind ? Not at all according to my opinion. All his efforts, all this witch hunting around the world offered a psychological comfort to his unbelievably difficult position as the defense lawyer of the most hated man in America. He had to invent dragons, he had to invent other conspirators, how could it only be McVeigh, his defendant ? He never came to terms with the fact that MvVeigh confessed to him and took all the responsibility. How could he defend such a monster ? He had to invent something, if not for the shake of the defense, at least for himself, so that he could sleep at nights. That is my opinion.

If you are interested in the Oklahoma City bombing case you must read this book. And try to make your own coclusions. I may be wrong.

Maximum Consistency With the Truth, May 14, 2001:
By MT (Dallas, TX United States)

Forget or ignore the fact that Jones was McVeigh's lawyer. This book is an excellent historical account of the event, and a great accessory to another interesting take on the bombing, the book "The Secret Lives of Bill Clinton," and articles on thenewamerican.com. Unavoidable facts detailed clearly in this book include the extra human leg found in the ruins (combat boot and sheath intact -- all 168 dead had both legs recovered), numerous eyewitness accounts/testimony denouncing nearly every point of the Justice Dept.'s ludicrous "lone-bomber" theory, and the circus McVeigh and cohorts launched in the months before the bombing which exposes McVeigh for what he is -- a willing 'Patsy' who could never have pulled this off alone.

If you don't want to be up at nights thinking about the case, then read American Terrorist -- the McVeigh-sanctioned lie-a-thon that gives him the twisted glory for the attack, and the book that will let you sleep at night knowing the only person you believe responsible is behind bars.

If you want the truth, read this book. You'll realize that McVeigh is laughing at the latest FBI fumble with the recently turned over 3,000+ pages, he is pleased with the new FBI embarrassment and will probably ask for a new trial just to make the gov't look even worse (even though he'll still be convicted), and that the recent release of the documents was probably delayed by the sophomoric Clinton-Reno administration in order to pass the blame onto Mr. Bush.

Regardless of your beliefs about the bombing, you won't be albe to ignore the facts about the extra leg found, and the facts about ANFO bombs and their inability to be driven 300 miles by anyone. And you'll be glad that McVeigh stupidly criticized Jones, endangering McVeigh's legacy, so that more facts about the case could come out.

The United States as Rome, August 1, 2001:
By "arochom" (Tampa, FL United States)

Stephen Jones, lead counsel for Timothy McVeigh, writes an interesting account that hypothesizes that his client and Terry Nichols were not alone in planning and carrying out the Oklahoma City bombing. Jones not only presents many deficiencies in the Federal government's case against McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing, but also paints the picture of a government agency completely hell-bent on "winning" its own case. Jones, in advocating for his client, contends that the prosecution's case was incomplete and circumstantial; exculpatory evidence was either withheld or stalled that could have helped in giving McVeigh a fair trial. In his analysis, Jones does raise some doubt in McVeigh's "direct" involvement in the bombing, and more that one can of worms is opened (Cannot mention here because that would kill interest in the book). Several red flags imply that the bombing was planned from abroad. That is to say, how can only two men plan and execute such a bombing of such magnitude, something said to be impossible by bomb experts in other countries where this kind of thing is routine? Jones questions Terry Nichols' ignorance of the OKC bombing plans. Nichols made several trips and many telephone calls to the Philippines, a hotbed of terrorist activity -- that's never taken seriously in connecting Nichols, much less in mitigating McVeigh.

Jones' book is also his own biographical foray into a high profile case that transformed his life and his beliefs about U.S. justice. His book is not intended to cash in on this case, but to expose some theories that had not sufficiently been discussed. Jones believes McVeigh should have been found not guilty (Read the acknowledgments! Although Jones does not offer a satisfactory explanation as to why McVeigh was involved at all, this would seem to be covered by attorney-client privilege. Despite this, whether or not Jones convinces the general public of the facts that McVeigh did not receive a fair trial and that the government successfully hid the truth is left for the reader. At the very least some interesting theories grounded in fact are presented. A limitation is that there is only one illustration within the book; however, an overall good book.

Reviewer: A reader

This book was written pretty much from the camp of the prosecution and the government's point of view that McVeigh acted alone in pulling off the biggest act of terrorism in American history. The author would have you believe that this 27-year-old drifter who was unable to find steady work had more know-how and ability to commit this act of terrorism than the IRA or any other hard core terrorist organization in the world. Terrorism experts from the UK who have been dealing with terrorist bombings for decades told the defense attorney that a bombing on this scale could not have been perpetrated by just two men. You won't read about this in this book, however, because the author is not interested in such points. The author's bias comes through in every chapter; he is not, like the prosecution or America for that matter, interested in exposing the whole truth behind this dastardly attack. He just wants to paint the picture that the government wants you to believe and parade the emotionalism of the victims before you to sell a book.

The author also makes no effort to document his sources. You just have to take his word for it that his version of the story is the truth. He goes out of his way to tell you what the individuals involved were thinking, as if he has some amazing power to read minds, or to paint McVeigh and his associates in the worst possible light. In short, this book is not an objective look at what happened that day in 1995.

The fact remains that there is other evidence that was either not allowed in court or was overshadowed by the highly emotional testimony given by the victim's families that really bothers me. Like the fact that their were eight victims who lost their left legs in the bombing but there were nine left legs found. Or the allegation that that a call was made to the Justice Department in Washington by a person claiming to be a "nobody" across the street from the Murrah building immediately following the attack, but this call came in 30 minutes BEFORE it occurred. There are other things too, but no one, it seems, is really willing to detach themselves from their emotions to ferret out the whole truth to what went on that day in April, 1995. Why?

It was tragic that 168 people, including 19 children, died in that blast and it is heartbreaking to think of the loved ones who have lost so much but that is not what this should be about. It should be about finding out the whole truth as to who, what and why however painful for the government and dispensing real justice to those involved. This is supposed to be what the justice system is about not pinning the whole thing on some punk, railroading him in court and then dusting off their hands when he's executed and giving each other hearty slaps on the back and "atta boys" all around for the government.

Read this book but also read "Apocalypse in Oklahoma: Waco and Ruby Ridge Revenged, "Others Unknown: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy", "The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror" and others. They all offer different points of view but they never agree on what the whole truth is or who was involved. The point is that we are not being told the whole story for one reason or another. I am more interested in knowing why this other evidence is being pushed aside by the government and so should you.

Tim and attorney Stephen Jones before their falling out.

Another LONE ASSASSIN theory??? Gimme a break, November 14, 2000:
Reviewer: A reader

When will people wake up to the fact that lone assassins are generally the patsy's for government intelligence operations, and that they should suspect that first off in any such occurrence. Just like Oswald was the patsy in the murder of JFK, and Sirhan Sirhan of his brother, etc. etc.---the same modus operandi having been also used on MJK and MLK---McVeigh was merely the patsy for another government intelligence operation, which involved numerous people still in government service, and who were never charged. Did McVeigh set off the fertilizer bomb? Probably. But that explosion was just a distraction for what really brought down the building. An analysis of the explosion by a government explosives expert showed conclusively that one fertilizer bomb could not possibly have resulted in the massive damage that was done, and that numerous bombs placed strategically on support columns and linked to go off simultaneously, were required to do the damage that was done. And other analysis of the shock waves during the explosion actually proved more than one device was exploded at the time. Additionally, several witnesses saw members of an official bomb squad in the area the day before the explosion.

Factually there is so much more to this crime that involves people in very high places, that to blame it all on McVeigh and leave it at that, as this author does, is almost a crime in itself.

A Leap Between Fact & Fantasy, July 29, 1998 Reviewer: A reader

As the executive director of the Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee, I carefully examined Mr. Serrano's book with great interest. The disappointment I felt after reading his work was disheartening. The book is written under the guise of a non-fiction biography, yet it contains no appendix or back-up documentation. He also fails to credit other writers whose work he "picked up along the way." Serrano's enormous leaps between fact and fantasy are beyond belief. As someone intimately involved in this case, I can tell you this book does not begin to scratch the surface or give the reader a clear picture of what really happened in OK City. One would gain a better perspective of the situation by reading the court trial transcripts rather than Mr. Serrano's personal slant on a man he does not know, about a case he obviously does not fully comprehend. Except for the passages relating to the victims' experiences, I cannot recommend this as a serious research book!": Sincerely, Cate McCauley

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