Tim Talley of AP has an interesting report on some newly released documents connected to the Oklahoma City bombing that the FBI claims was solely the work of Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols. There's also some speculation about what may happen to prisoners in federal custody—

The FBI has turned over 17 internal reports to a Utah lawyer who is trying to prove his brother was killed in a federal holding cell in Oklahoma City during a botched interrogation by federal authorities.

The records were handed over last week under a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who is seeking evidence for his theory that his brother, Kenneth Trentadue, was murdered in an isolation cell at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City in August 1995.

Jesse Trentadue believes authorities mistakenly suspected that his brother - a convicted bank robber - was part of a gang that robbed banks to finance attacks on the government, possibly including the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

Now this next part just shocks my credulity—

Among other things, the documents reveal that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies were investigating evidence of a wider conspiracy in the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building months after claiming the conspiracy was limited to Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

Maybe they were just double-checking.

The documents ... also indicate that investigators looked into McVeigh's attempts to contact a resident of Elohim City, a heavily fortified compound in eastern Oklahoma, in the days prior to the bombing.

Separate documents state that telephone records and confidential informants indicate McVeigh called the Elohim City compound at least twice - on April 5, 1995, and around April 17, 1995. "McVeigh may have been trying to recruit other individuals to assist him," states a document dated Jan. 26, 1996.

But what to make of this? The bumbling hangsman theory:

Local and federal investigations ruled Kenneth Trentadue's death a suicide, although bruises and other marks on his body raised questions among some officials about whether he was murdered or committed suicide.

Kenneth Trentadue, 44, was being held on an alleged parole violation when guards found him dead on Aug. 21, 1995, hanging from a noose made of torn bed sheets.

Prison officials told the family he suffered several injuries when his first hanging attempt failed, before succeeding on a second hanging attempt.

His family insists he was killed and contend correctional officials destroyed evidence. Authorities have denied the allegations. Several investigations also ruled the death a suicide.

They say it; I believe it. Life's just prettier that way.

Related post
A word on conspiracies (7/14/05)