Leg From Oklahoma Blast Was Black Woman’s, Authorities Say
Casting doubts on defense theories that a severed leg found in the Oklahoma City federal building rubble belonged to the “real bomber,” authorities said Wednesday that the limb was that of an unidentified black woman.
The conclusion, announced by state medical examiner Fred Jordan in Oklahoma City, boosted the official death toll from the April 19 bombing to 169.
Defense lawyers for accused bomber Timothy J. McVeigh had speculated that the leg belonged to the “real bomber,” despite the substantial circumstantial evidence that appears to link McVeigh to the explosion. But no black women have been tied to the crime or linked to McVeigh or his co-defendant, Terry L. Nichols.
The laboratory conclusions will intensify the hunt for a person missing in the blast. For weeks, FBI and other federal agents have been scouring homeless shelters, kitchens and food stamp outlets in the Oklahoma City area for any word of missing individuals. But a source said Wednesday he knew of no promising leads.
Jordan said that the leg was identified as belonging to a black female after a series of three special DNA and hair fiber tests were completed by FBI analysts. The finding sharply differed from an earlier statement by Jordan’s office that there was a 75% probability that the limb belonged to a white male.
Jordan said without further explanation Wednesday that the earlier test had been based on statistical data for Caucasians. The FBI tests, Jordan said, now “show conclusively that the left leg is not male, but female.”
Furthermore, he disclosed, “the hair analysis has shown Negroid characteristics.”
However the woman’s identity remained a mystery. The new analysis has her at between 16 and 30 years old and about 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
The leg found in the rubble was wearing a size 7 1/2 military-style boot and an olive-drab blousing strap.
The experts also found that the leg bone had been fractured twice. But Jordan said it was not clear whether the limb was broken in the blast.
He added that the left legs of seven other bombing victims were never recovered, but that the black woman’s leg does not match any of those.
Stephen Jones, the Enid, Okla., attorney who represents McVeigh, said that the new findings only raise more questions about the quality of scientific forensic work done at the scene of the blast.
Jones originally revealed the existence of the missing leg, saying that there could be only three explanations: that mistakes had been made by the medical examiner’s office, that a homeless person passing by was killed by the explosion or that the “real bomber” had died in the blast.
Jones said that the “contradictory disclosures” by the medical examiner and the FBI will probably be part of his defense in attempting to show that officials rushed to judge McVeigh and his former Army buddy, Nichols, as the only conspirators in the bombing.
“No one can have confidence now in any of the forensic work in this case,” Jones said. “Today a white male became a black female. No wonder DNA testing is being discredited.”
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