This is material which I shared with Mo10cav@aol.com. Special to the Econet Western Lands Gopher Service -------------------------------------------------- gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:70/11/environment/forests/western.lands ------------------------------------------------------------------- ON THE TRAIL OF JOHN DOE #2 by: Field Correspondents in Idaho, Washington, and Berlin, Germany Who is John Doe #2 and why hasn't the government found him? A former German military officer may hold the key to Doe's identity, but the FBI reportedly isn't very interested in this lead. Why is John Doe #2 important? The reason is he is the alleged "helper" and mystery man who may have aided Tim McVeigh in the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal building on April 19, 1995 which killed 168 people. Andreas Strassmeir may know who John Doe #2 is, but he's not talking and has left the country. Now living in Germany, Strassmeir, age 36, not only met Tim McVeigh, but also lived at a white supremacist compound in Oklahoma. John Doe #2 is alleged to have been Strassmeir's roommate at Elohim City, OK, an "intentional community" of Chistian Identity believers and sometime home to many activists in neo-Nazi and other extreme right wing causes. Strassmeir has been interviewed in Germany by American television network news and other American news media. He's also the subject of a court suit filed by families of the victims and survivors of the OKC bombing who allege he knows more than he's talking about to the press. One of the most startling pieces of information to turn up is that John Doe #2 may not be "middle eastern" in appearance, but may be from Cuba. This could account for the widespread reports of a "swarthy" man who was identified as having breakfast with McVeigh and Nichols at the Santa Fe Diner in Herrington, KS, on April 18, 1995. The same description is the basis for the FBI composite drawing circulated all over the country. He is believed to have been with McVeigh at the time he rented the Ryder truck used in the bombing. John Doe #2 has not yet been found. Strassmeir is closely linked with attorney Kirk Lyons who has defended many US neo-nazis in court proceedings. Lyons, who has deep contacts with neo-nazis in Germany, also defended Louis Beam, who coined the idea of "leaderless resistance." This strategy is thought to be behind a nationally significant series of abortion clinic fire bombings alleged to have been carried out by militia supporters or sympathizers. It may have been the inspiration for the OKC bombing. What puts Strassmeir in the crosshairs of analysis is his admitted meetings with McVeigh not only at a Tulsa, OK, gun show in April 1993, but also a second time in 1994 at the first anniversary service at Mt. Carmel near Waco, TX, where more than 80 Branch Davidians died April 19, 1993. Strassmeir has a number of ambiguous and confusing roles. Some think he's an agent of the government, and other think he's just a "soldier of fortune" type who hung out with the wrong people. McVeigh telephoned Elohim City on April 5, 1995, asking to speak to Strassmeir who was living there at the time. The call was made the same day McVeigh rented the Ryder truck which was eventually blown up in front of the Murrah Federal Office Building. However, Strassmeir says through his attorney, Kirk Lyons, that he didn't take the call and didn't know about it until much later. Elohim City has so many white supremacists with violent backgrounds associated with it that it could be the next place involved in a confrontation with law enforcement agencys like those involving the Monatna Freemen, Texas Branch Davidians, and Idaho's Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge. Many of the mysteries associated with the OKC bombing have their trails running to ground and disappearing at Elohim City. These include the identity of John Doe #2, the mystery of the second Ryder Truck, McVeigh's phone call, and links to various underground cells of the militia movement like Ray Lampley, convicted earlier this month of planning to blow up the office of the SPLC and ADL. A key mystery is there are too many vehicles and not enough people accounted for in front of the OKC Federal Bldg the morning of April 19th. For instance, who drove McVeigh's car to Oklahoma City if McVeigh and Nichols were in the Ryder Rental truck that carried the explosive? If Nichols drove the car, who was in the truck with McVeigh? Is Strassmeir the key to these mysteries or is he a red herring? Is Strassmeir a real link to America's underground neo- Nazi movement or is he being touted part of a disinformation strategy by the McVeigh defense team to sow confusion in the minds of potential jurors and thus spare McVeigh and Nichols from the death penalty? Strassmeir doesn't look anything like the composite drawing of John Doe #2, even with a baseball cap on his head. It's what's inside his head that people want to know. ###