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Victims' Kin Asked If They Want to See McVeigh Die
Unusual Preparations for Federal Execution in May
By
Lois Romano
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 30, 2001;
The
extraordinary nature of the Oklahoma City bombing, and the sheer
number of those it affected, is likely to pose some unusual
challenges for the government as it prepares for the May 16
execution of Timothy J. McVeigh.
The
federal government has written to 1,100 victims of the crime,
asking relatives of the dead and survivors of the 1995 truck
bombing if they wish to witness what may be the first federal
execution in 38 years. Under the U.S. Bureau of Prison guidelines
for executions, there are only eight seats at the Terre Haute,
Ind., federal death chamber set aside for so-called victim
witnesses.
But
the government has indicated a willingness to expand those numbers
if needed.
"We
are trying to evaluate the scope to fully determine what we are
going to have to do to meet the needs of the victims," said
Daniel Dunne, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. "We
understand the unique nature of this case in the sense that there
are so many victims."
Dunne
said nothing has been ruled out, including the possibility of
allowing a closed-circuit camera into the chamber to transmit the
execution back to a designated location in Oklahoma City. McVeigh's
lawyer said his client would not object. Attorney Karen Howick, who
persuaded the court to allow a closed circuit hook-up for the
federal bombing trials in Denver, said she is prepared to formally
make the request to allow a camera in the execution facility.
"Any
victim who wants to" should be allowed to witness the
execution, said Howick. "I don't know how you choose what
eight people get to come to closure . . . The trauma of the bombing
should not be exacerbated by telling people this is a lottery --
you take your chances."
McVeigh,
32, will be permitted to have six witnesses present: two attorneys,
a spiritual adviser, and three relatives or friends. The decorated
Persian Gulf War veteran was condemned to death in 1997 for the
April 19, 1995, truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building, which killed 168 people and injured more than 500 in the
deadliest act of terrorism committed on American soil. His
co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, escaped a death sentence in the
federal case, and is awaiting trial in Oklahoma on state charges.
Last month, McVeigh unexpectedly dropped his remaining
appeals, clearing the way for his execution by lethal injection. He
reserved the right to ask for executive clemency, but his lawyers
said he has not decided whether to do so. In any case, a grant of
clemency from President Bush -- a staunch death penalty advocate --
is seen as unlikely. In Bush's six years as governor of Texas, 152
inmates were executed. Bush commuted a death sentence to life only
once, for Henry Lee Lucas, when questions were raised about his
guilt in that one murder case.
"I
harbor no illusions that George 'The Reaper' Bush would grant me a
commutation of sentence, nor would I beg any man to spare my
life," McVeigh recently wrote in response to questions from
the Buffalo News, the New York newspaper from McVeigh's home area.
Victims' families have been second-guessing his motives for ending
his appeals, with a number speculating that he was simply being
manipulative in trying to schedule his own death. Robert Nigh Jr.,
his long-time attorney, denied any sinister motives. "He was
just determined that he didn't want to proceed through the courts
any longer," said Nigh. "He thought he had very
compelling issues on direct appeal that were turned down. He
believed that the likelihood of success on further appeal was
nonexistent. He didn't want to keep pursuing it just for the
purpose of delay. He doesn't want to give them any more paper to
write on."
Besides,
said Nigh, "existence on death row is not all it's cracked up
to be." McVeigh has been confined to the Terre Haute federal
penitentiary since 1999, when a special confinement unit was opened
to house as many as 50 federal death row inmates; there are
currently 20 death row inmates there. (The last federal execution
was in 1963, when Victor Feguer was hanged in Iowa for kidnapping
and murder.) The penitentiary also houses the only federal death
chamber in the country in a separate building. Four small witness
rooms, for victims, the media, prosecutors and the inmate's
representatives flank two sides of the chamber. McVeigh spends his day in a small cell, isolated from the
rest of the prison population, reading or watching television. His
lawyers say he plays an active role in his case and stays current
with the news.
Prosecutors
alleged at his trial that hatred for the government drove McVeigh
to blow up the building. He allegedly wanted to avenge the
government's 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco,
where about 80 people died. McVeigh has never admitted guilt or
expressed remorse -- something the victims and their families hope
he will do before he dies. His lawyers say he has no plans to grant
media interviews. However,
McVeigh reportedly wanted his story told in a book, and he will get
his wish. Two Buffalo News reporters have written "American
Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing,"
based on 75 hours of interviews with McVeigh. It will be published
in April and, at a minimum, it is excepted to reveal for the first
time McVeigh's motives.
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