Fbi Bomb Specialist Will Take Over Probe Into Oklahoma City Blast

The FBI Thursday named an experienced bomb specialist and expert on terrorism to head its probe of last month’s Oklahoma City bombing, restructuring its operation in order to gear up for a longer-term investigation.

The new leader of the Oklahoma City team is Danny A. Defenbaugh, a 25-year FBI veteran who has had extensive experience in terrorism-related activities and has headed more than 150 bombing probes all over the world.

The agency said special agent Weldon L. Kennedy, who has led the Oklahoma City operation since the bombing April 19, would return to his permanent post as head of the FBI’s Phoenix office, where he will continue to serve as field commander for the probe.

Defenbaugh, 43, who has served in the FBI’s Mobile, Ala., office since 1993, is a legendary figure who has been involved in investigations of terrorism in some 20 countries - including the Beirut, Lebanon, bombing of U.S. Marines in 1983 and the hijacking of an Egyptian airliner in 1985.

An FBI-certified bomb technician, Defenbaugh is known as a meticulous investigator and indefatigable detective who also is good at motivating other people and deft at dealing with other federal agencies and with state and local law-enforcement authorities.

“He has lots of street experience and can drive a lot of special agents,” says William Baker, who recently retired as assistant director of the FBI and head of its criminal investigative division.

The FBI said in a statement that the Oklahoma City team would be restructured along the lines of the task force that handled the 1989 mail-bombings in the South, with a special task force set up to handle the case in cooperation with other law-enforcement agencies.