Abdullah al-Muhajir (Padilla) is actually OK City Bomber John Doe 2 . . . no wait, Doe 2 was actually Todd Bunting . . . no, wait, he was actually the man on the grassy knoll . . . no, wait, he was actually the dying alien at Roswell . . . no wait . . . .

Or maybe there was no John Doe 2. (Thanks to TransTerrestial Musings (link at left) for several links about this juicy conspiracy theory.)

CNN and Fox News have run stories on the theory, based on the rather flimsy resemblance between one of the sketches of Johhn Doe 2 in 1995 and a mug shot of al Muhajir made last month. I say, "one of the sketches" because the FBI released more than one sketch and al Muhajir resembles only one of them (and not very strongly, IMO).

Here is a Denver Post report of the Oklahoma County's grand jury looking at some of the information about JD2:

The grand jury also said it investigated the numerous sightings of the elusive John Doe No. 2, who some believe helped Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bomb the Murrah building.

During an 18-month investigation, 26 witnesses testified before the grand jury that they saw John Doe No. 2 or saw McVeigh with John Doe No. 2. Testimony from the witnesses often conflicted, the grand jury said. The sightings, said the jury, were reported after composites were shown on television or after McVeigh was led out of the Noble County, Okla., jail on April 21, 1995.

Now, pay attention to the following paragraph:

The grand jurors said the descriptions were so wide-ranging that, "John Doe No. 2 would have to be as follows: height - 5 foot 3 to 6 foot 3; weight - 140 pounds to 210 pounds; build - slim and skinny to stocky and muscular; race - white, Hispanic, Middle Eastern or Asian; skin color - white, olive or dark; hair color - dark blond, red, brown or black; hair length - crew cut, 2 inches long or shoulder length; facial hair - mustache or none.'' [italics added - DS]

Which means that Jon Doe's description would match about three-fourths of the men in the United States - or heck, the world! Then the grand jury decided that -

The jury said John Doe No. 2 is most likely Todd Bunting, a U.S. Army soldier who went to Elliott's Body Shop in Junction City, Kan., on April 18, 1995. A day earlier, McVeigh had gone to Elliott's and picked up the Ryder truck he used in the Murrah building bombing. Bunting went to Elliott's with Michael Hertig.

"The similarity of Mr. Hertig to the composite of John Doe No. 1 and the similarity of Todd Bunting to the composite of John Doe No. 2 are remarkable, particularly when you take into account Bunting's tattoo of a Playboy bunny on his upper left arm and the fact that he was wearing a black T-shirt and a Carolina Panthers ball cap when he was at Elliott's Body Shop,'' said the report.

The jurors concluded there is no evidence to connect John Doe No. 2 to the Middle East. It said reports John Doe No. 2 may have fled the building after the blast in a brown pickup truck were unfounded.