The Oklahoma City Bombing, Part 1

The Oklahoma City Bombing was one of the most devastating attacks in American history, and its story has been told many times. But never like this.

Retired FBI agent Scott was on the case in the chaotic hours after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In part one of this three-part series, Scott takes us through the turbulent days immediately after the bombing, as he races to pin down a suspect.

Retired FBI agent R. Scott Crabtree was born in Herington, KS and raised in Omaha, NE. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps before getting his college degree in accounting, aconomics, and business.

During his nearly 25 years career with the Bureau, Scott was assigned to five different field offices, including New York City, their largest office, and the Salina, KS, Resident Agency, a one-person office, as well as two tours at FBIHQ in Washington D.C.

Scott was the lead Kansas investigator of the Oklahoma City Bombing. He later led the Cyber Crime Squad in New York where he worked cases including the "I Love You" virus. After that, he led a rapid task force in Seattle that helped capture the D.C. snipers.

After his retirement, Scott was recruited by a non-profit contractor firm where he was able to continue his work supporting and enabling operational, intelligence and information-sharing functions in numerous law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Scott's book about his work with the Oklahoma City bombing case, called Under 80 Hours, was published in 2025.