Oklahoma City Jane Doe (1995)

Oklahoma City Jane Doe was a woman whose leg was found in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The unidentified leg continues to be a source of speculation.

Case[]

At 9:02 AM, a bomb exploded in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The bomb destroyed one third of the building and killed 168 people, injured 680 people, and destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings. A couple of days after the bombing occurred, two men, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were arrested and charged in connection with the attack. McVeigh stated the attack was motivated by revenge against the United States federal government for their actions during the Waco siege and the Ruby Ridge Incident.

Between April 19 and May 5, all but three of the victims were recovered from the scene. On April 27, a severed, decomposed, and shaven left leg in a black leather boot was found. Although initially identified as a male leg, the leg was identified by investigators as belonging to Lakesha Levy, an airman at Tinker Air Force Base, and was buried with her in her above-ground crypt in New Orleans. Following a 1996 exhumation, it was determined that the unidentified leg was misidentified, and Levy's actual left leg was reburied with her. Since then, it was reported the leg was embalmed, preventing DNA collection. The FBI referred to the leg as "P-71" ("Part-71").

There are three theories regarding the unidentified leg. One theory is that the person is an unidentified 169th victim of the bombing. Fred Jordan, the state's chief medical examiner at the time of the bombing, said it was his "gut feeling" the leg belonged to another victim. He once told reporters, "I've always thought this had to be a mistake on our part. There were a lot of missing parts. But we have looked and looked and looked. Other pathologists have looked. Other anthropologists have looked. And we can't find it. Could it be another individual? I have to say, 'Could be. I don't know.' I do not know whose leg it is. That's the bottom line."

Another theory is that the leg belonged to a third unnamed conspirator. It has been reported by a mechanic that McVeigh was with a man only known as John Doe #2 at Elliott's Body Shop in Junction City, Kansas, two days before the attack. John Doe #2 did not match Nichols' description and was described as a muscular-looking man with a short neck, square jaw, and a tattoo and wore a California Panthers cap. However, in June 1995, federal authorities stated they identified John Doe #2 as Todd Bunting, an Army private who was at the body shop with a friend. Bunting fit John Doe #2's description and wore similar clothing, including a Carolina Panthers cap. He was cleared of any involvement, and the mechanic admitted he might have been in error.

When asked if there were other conspirators, McVeigh denied there being any. He once responded, "You can't handle the truth! Because the truth is, I blew up the Murrah Building, and isn't it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of hell?" On the morning of his execution, he wrote, "For those die-hard conspiracy theorists who will refuse to believe this, I turn the tables and say: Show me where I needed anyone else. Financing? Logistics? Specialized tech skills? Brainpower? Strategy? ... Show me where I needed a dark, mysterious 'Mr. X'!"

Nevertheless, McVeigh's defense attorney, Stephen Jones, had repeatedly insisted that the leg belonged to a third unnamed bomber who was either in the building when the bomb went off or was murdered by McVeigh and was left near the bomb to hide the evidence. In his book, "Others Unknown: The Oklahoma City Bombing Case and Conspiracy," Jones writes about additional witnesses who saw McVeigh with someone besides Nichols days prior and that McVeigh denies the existence of John Doe #2 because he wants the glory to himself. In a letter to the Houston Chronicle, McVeigh responded to Jones' claims with, "Does anyone honestly believe that if there was a John Doe 2 (there is not), that Stephen Jones would still be alive? Think about it."

A third theory is that the leg belongs to one of eight known victims of the bombing whose legs were never recovered. This idea has been endorsed by the FBI, which claims to have narrowed the identity of the leg's owner down to a specific candidate from this group of people.

McVeigh was convicted on eleven counts of murder and conspiracy on June 2, 1997, and was executed on June 11, 2001. Nichols was convicted of conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction and of eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers by the federal government on June 4, 1998, and of 161 counts of first-degree murder on May 26, 2004, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Two other individuals, Michael and Lori Fortier, were considered accomplices because of their foreknowledge of the attack. Michael was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the attack on May 27, 1998, and Lori was granted immunity because of her testimony. Michael was released on good behavior on January 20, 2006, and lives under a new name in the Witness Protection Program.

In 2015, it was reported by the Washington Times that DNA actually was extracted from the leg by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office. Ten of the victims have been ruled out as the owner of the leg. The FBI was unaware of this, with Special Agent Ann Todd saying, "The last known tests on the leg, identified as [M/E 9502469] P-71, was performed in 1997."

Oklahoma City Jane Doe (1995)

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