During the bombing attempts in Denver in 1997, Oklahoma City US lawyer Pat Ryan proudly wore his cowboy hat.
He had it when he and other prosecutors went back and forth from the Federal Court House through the TV cameras every day.
Ryan, who died Thursday, September 18, saw it as a signal that returned home, affected by the 1995 Attack on the Federal Building of the Oklahoma City.
“I wanted to be a cowboy when I was a little boy, so I always had shoes and hats, and what’s not, but I didn’t always wear it for work,” he said in 2012. Interview with the National Memorial and Museum of the Oklahoma City.
“And I think I just felt … Wearing that hat, that people from Oklahoma will go:” Okay, we have a guy there is from the Oklahoma who is one of us who fights for us. “
Ryan became a lawyer of the US Western Oklahoma district after 1995. April 19, bombing. President Bill Clinton appointed him to this position in 1995. May 8, and he was sworn in June.
He served until 1999. October, after spending months in Denver, helping to attract the bomber Timothy McVeigh and a fellow Terry Nichols.
In its 2012 In an interview, he recalled that he immediately began to involve victims in prosecution to feel authorized. “Probably a better part of the year all I did was meet the victims’ families,” he said. “And by the time the trial took place, I was emotionally filled.”
Ryan died Thursday, snorkeling with his family and friends on vacation in Aruba, his founder of his Oklahoma’s law firm confirmed Friday. He was 79 years old.
“Pat was a beloved partner, friend, colleague and mentor to us and many other legal communities,” Phillip’s Phillipo G. Whaley report to Oklahoman. “He was an exceptional talent as a court lawyer and defense counsel in the courthouse throughout our state and country.
More: Here’s what happened to the Okc bomber, his accomplice and others within 30 years of the attack
“His talents as a lawyer and service of a court and our community were emphasized in the lead role … Federal Oklahoma City Bombing Culprits.
“His irresistible support for the victims of this tragedy reflected his main belief that the law is related to humans. At the same time, it was equally important for him to do whatever he could to ensure that those defendants receive a fair trial, as our laws. We and our community would miss it very.”
The National Memorial of the Oklahoma City also confirmed death. “Patrick Ryan will always be remembered as an incredible oclahoman,” the memorial states in the social media record.
In the first court, the swearing for McVeigh chose the death penalty when he was found guilty of everyone. It was executed in 2001.
Ryan was in the best stage of the punishment of McVeigh, providing a spicy introductory report and choosing victims whose loss of intestinal loss was crying. “He was an old school lawyer where your hand pressed and your word meant everything,” McVeigh’s main lawyer Stephen Jones said on Friday.
This drawing of the courtroom from 1997. Federal Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh exhibitions from the left, defense lawyer Stephaard Jones, US County Judge Richard Matsch and Oklahoma City US lawyer Ryan.
In the second court, a different jury convicted Nichols only by conspiracy and involuntary murder for his role. The jurors were divided by the death penalty and was a deadlock for the sentence.
Ryan was praised for a sudden investigation during that wife Marife trial.
Nichols 1998 Was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility to release. US District Judge Richard Matsch imposed a maximum penalty under the jury.
The prosecution teams had lawyers from all over the country, so Ryan sometimes called tension.
Also from the Oklahoma’s McVeigh trial was Vicki Behenna, then an assistant to the US lawyer. She is now a lawyer for Oklahoma County.
“He was a fantastic mentor to me, boldly,” Behenna said on Friday
His survivors are his wife in Elaine. Two last year’s relationship after joining a high school reunion again.
1969 Ryan received a degree in law at the University of Oklahoma. He then served in the US Air Force as a judge’s lawyer.
Cowboy hat, carried by prosecutor Pat Ryan in 1997. Oklahoma city bombing tests exhibited at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.
The museum exhibits a hat of Ryan’s cowboy. In its 2012 In the history of the oral memorial, Ryan sometimes cried when he talked about a bombing case. “Do you feel that you have given a huge part of your life?” Kari Watkins, CEO of the Memorial, asked.
“I think I gave my soul to that,” he replied
This article initially appeared to Oklahoman: OKC Bombing Prosecutor also Ryan died at the age of 79 when a snorkeling trip in Aruba