Kriti Mehrotra
Although the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building undeniably turned the entire nation upside down, a few families were affected more than anyone else. Among them were actually the McVeighs, especially as one of their own had largely perpetrated this incident as revenge for the 1993 Waco siege, as carefully explored in ‘Waco: The Aftermath‘ plus HBO’s ‘An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th.’ Yet for now, if you simply wish to learn more about Jennifer McVeigh — lead bomber Timothy’s younger sister as well as his once-closest confidant — we’ve got the necessary details for you.
Who is Jennifer McVeigh?
It was back in 1965 when Noreen Mildred “Mickey” Hill gladly tied the knot with William “Bill” McVeigh before settling down in Pendleton, New York, only to then welcome three kids into their lives. They were Patricia in 1966, Timothy in 1968, and finally Jennifer in 1974, but the truth is the trio were all quite close despite their considerable age gaps or the fact they essentially grew up apart. After all, once the couple suddenly separated in 1976, the two girls moved in with their mother, whereas the young male remained with their father, all the while maintaining contact with others.
It thus came as no surprise to Jennifer whenever she received letters or parcels from her brother Timothy no matter where either of them was, but things did begin to grow strange in early 1995. According to her accounts, he sent her a small box of his belongings without explanation from Kingman, Arizona, which contained not just his high school yearbook but also his military records. That’s around the same time this community college student came across his personal files and realized his anger at the FBI for Waco had driven him to be a white separatist, weapons extremist.
However, instead of confronting Timothy about this, Jennifer then merely asked if he wanted her to delete these records from their computer, only to abide by his refusal without further questions. Then came the three letters dated between March and April, wherein he clearly tells her to extend her Florida spring break vacation as “something big is going to happen in the month of the bull.” Her brother even asked her not to write him under any circumstances following April 1, yet he himself did send her a final note containing quotes from the white supremacist novel ‘The Turner Diaries.’
Nevertheless, the most significant aspect of this ordeal is the fact Jennifer split Timothy’s belongings into two boxes before departing for Florida, leaving the incriminating one with a friend. Plus, she burned the first letter upon reading it, as requested, just to quickly burn the final note as well as other bits of evidence once it came to light he’d been arrested for the bombing on April 21. “I was scared,” she excused in court in 1997. ”…I figured [the FBI would] come around sooner or later,” which they did — they searched her home, her vehicle, and the place she’d been staying in Florida.
Jennifer McVeigh is a Proud Teacher With a New Name
Jennifer was actually interrogated for “eight days straight” by agents desperate to gather concrete answers on Timothy’s timeline, with each session lasting 8-9 hours, but she lied to them. She admittedly hid she’d destroyed papers she thought might incriminate him and resisted their parents’ pleas to cooperate, that is, until it was implied she could face criminal charges as well. The youngster hence revealed the whole truth, which was deemed so crucial in totality she even had to testify against her brother (in exchange for immunity) when he ultimately stood trial in 1997.
In other words, Jennifer — Timothy’s sister, his closest confidant, and then 23-year-old Buffalo State College student — was the one who unwillingly, inadvertently helped the system sentence him to death. Therefore, the last time she ever saw him was a few months before his June 11, 2001, execution by lethal injection; they were separated by glass since he was incarcerated, yet she made it known she still loved him.
Coming to Jennifer’s current standing, it appears as if the Elementary Education degree holder has since moved on with her life to the best of her abilities while staying well away from the limelight. In fact, as per the last reports, she now goes by Jennifer Hill and is a proud middle school teacher in North Carolina with a small but happy family of her own.
Read More: How Did Pappy Millar Die?
