Star Witness Attacked In Nichols Bombing Trial Defense Tries To Show Drug Use Makes Testimony Unreliable

Terry Nichols’ lawyers attacked the credibility of star witness Michael Fortier in the Oklahoma bombing case Monday, calling to the stand a doctor who testified that a drug Fortier admits abusing causes paranoia and memory blackouts.

“People get hyper. … They feel they’re being followed,” Dr. Michael Abrams said of methamphetamine. “They’re open to suggestion to fill in the gaps.”

Fortier, who previously testified that Nichols was present when Timothy McVeigh took Fortier to a storage shed containing explosives, has admitted using the illegal drug regularly.

Defense lawyers contend that because of his methamphetamine use, his testimony cannot be trusted.

Abrams, a drug expert from the Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa, testified that sustained use of methamphetamine causes users to become suspicious and to suffer mood swings.

He said the drug kills parts of the brain, leaving gaps in memory similar to alcoholic blackouts.

Prosecutor Patrick Ryan noted that out of an estimated 4 million users nationwide, only 10 percent to 20 percent suffer serious problems.

In his testimony, Fortier said McVeigh took him to the storage shed outside Kingman, Ariz., before the bombing and that Nichols was present, loading something into a truck.

Fortier said McVeigh told him about his plan to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building to avenge the 1993 government siege at Waco, Texas.

McVeigh said someone else was in on the plan, but did not say who, Fortier said. Fortier also testified that McVeigh and Nichols appeared to have disagreements shortly before the April 1995 bombing, which killed 168 people.