On April 19th 1995 at 09:00am, Timothy McVeigh, an American gulf-war veteran, parked a rental truck containing a homemade bomb outside the Alfred P Murrah building in Oklahoma City and lit the fuse. At 09:02am, McVeigh detonated the bomb. In a matter of seconds, the blast destroyed most of the nine-story concrete building, which included a daycare centre, leaving 168 people dead, and hundreds more injured. But the question on everyone’s mind was why? What motives could Timothy McVeigh have had to commit what was, at that time, the most devastating terrorist attack on American Soil.
As the black smoke cleared from over Oklahoma City, caused by a lethal explosion of a homemade bomb outside the Alfred P Murrah building, the true devastation of the blast was more clear to see. Hundreds of civilians lay bleeding and injured on the ground, 168 people were confirmed dead, 19 of them children, there were 342 buildings damaged or completely destroyed and the impact of the bomb left a 16-block radius of destruction, reducing most structures to rubble. The surrounding area looked like a warzone, cars were incinerated, buildings on fire. Coming just after the World Trade Centre bombing in New York two years earlier, many Americans immediately assumed that the attack was the work of Middle Eastern Terrorists. Truly the darkest day in Oklahoma Cities history, one that turned an even darker shade when they found out it was one of their own.
Beneath the piles of concrete and rubble were clues. On April 20th, the rear axle of the Ryder truck which was carrying the homemade bomb was located and the vehicle identification number was traced to a body shop in Kansas. Employees at the shop helped the FBI quickly put together a composite drawing of the man who rented the van. Agents showed the drawing around town and local hotel employees supplied a name ; Tim McVeigh.
Astonishingly, McVeigh was already in jail. He’d been pulled over about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City for a missing licence plate on his getaway car, where it was swiftly discovered he had a concealed weapon and was arrested just 90 minutes after the bombing. From there, the evidence against Timothy McVeigh began adding up.
Agents found traces of the chemicals used in the explosion on McVeigh’s clothes and a business card on McVeigh which had written on it ‘TNT @ 5$ a stick, need more’. During interrogation, they quickly learned about McVeigh's extremist ideologies and his strong hatred of the federal government.
Once they discovered this was his motive, it was plain to see why Timothy McVeigh targeted the Alfred P Murrah building. It was full of US Government workers, fourteen federal agencies had offices there, and 98 of the victims on the day worked for the federal government. But where did this hate of McVeigh’s stem from? To understand that, we need to delve deeper into the life of our perpetrator which you can do here, if you want to skip the recipe for his last meal.
Ingredients:
140g Dark Chocolate
400ml Full Fat Milk
300ml Double Cream
1 Vanilla Pod
75g Fresh Mint, stalks n' all
4 Large Egg Yolks
140g Caster Sugar
Method to cook Timothy McVeigh's Last Meal:
1. Freeze the dark chocolate for at least 30 minutes in a zip plastic bag then bash until it shatters into shards and chunks
2. Pour the milk and cream into the pan and then add the split vanilla pod and seeds that have been scraped out
3. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally until almost boiling, take off the heat then add the mint leaves and put the lid on the pan, leaving for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, strain the liquid, pressing the mint with a spatula to extract maximum flavour. Discard the mint and vanilla pod.
6. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until it is pale and thick, this took me around 3 minutes. Bring the liquid back to an almost-boil and pour half on the egg/sugar mixture, whisking constantly to incorporate, before adding the 2nd half of the liquid and whisking again
7. Return the custard to a gentle heat, constantly stirring to thicken, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely and then refrigerate overnight.
9. Pour custard in a pre-frozen ice cream maker and churn for around 20-30 minutes until you can see the ice cream sticking to the top part of the paddles and the texture resembles soft serve. Add the chocolate and transfer to freezable dish and freeze for 4 hours.
10. Serve with wafers & fresh mint
12. Enjoy & be thankful you're not getting the lethal injection in the morning.
Timothy McVeigh - why?
Born in Lockport, New York, McVeigh grew up in a working-class family and served in the United States Army from 1988 to 1992. He was a Gulf War veteran who displayed a strong affinity for libertarian and anti-government ideologies.
Whilst serving in the military, Timothy McVeigh met a man in basic training at Fort Benning called Terry Nichols in 1988. That same year, McVeigh became a candidate for the special forces but dropped out just 2 days later. He later reunited with Nichols and they bonded over their mutual anti-government sentiments.
McVeigh’s distrust of the government began in high school where as a teenager, he read the Turner Diaries by William Pierce, the leader of one of America’s most prominent neo-Nazi organisations. The book outlines a fictional Aryan revolution against the federal government. The opening scene of the Turner Diaries is eerily similar to the Oklahoma City Bombing where it reads ‘We will then drive into the FBI Building’s freight-receiving area, set the fuse, and leave the truck’
McVeigh's & Nichol’s radicalisation was influenced by their growing distrust of the federal government, which they believed had overstepped its bounds and violated citizens' rights. The catalyst for their violent actions was the Waco siege in 1993, where a confrontation between federal agents and the Branch Davidians religious compound resulted in a tragic loss of life. This event fuelled their anger and resentment towards the government and in September of 1994, they began plotting to destroy a federal symbol and they chose the Alfred P Murrah building and carried out an attack on a scale that America had never before seen, striking fear into the hearts of the nation.
In the Summer of 1997, McVeigh was tried and convicted on 11 different counts and sentenced to death. His last meal was 2 pints of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and you can watch me recreate here ; https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastSupper_yt