OKLAHOMA CITY . . . LONG TIME COMING

As early as 1988,an angry James Nichols was talking about constructing a "megabomb"capable of destroying a federal building like the one in Oklahoma City, according to federal doccuments. An FBI informant who visited Nichols' Michigan farm house in December of that year saidNichols blamed the government for the terrorist bombing of Pam Am Flight 103. He mentioned a federal building in Oklahoma City, the informant recalls, then drew a diagram of a structure similar to the Alfred P. Murrah building, explaining that "a megabomb capable of leveling a building could be built." Nichols today called the report "a total fabrication," and said he had no knowledge of the Murrah building and had never been to Oklahoma City. The informant's story was included in more than 100 pages of documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.