Post-Furman US Federal execution #1
Total US Post-Furman execution #717
On Monday, the 11th of June, 2001, the United States Federal Government carried out its first execution in thirty-eight years when 33-year-old Timothy James McVeigh was put to death by lethal injection at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana. McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which claimed the lives of 168 people—including 19 young children—and injured several hundred others.
His execution was the first federal capital punishment carried out since Victor Harry Feguer was hanged at Fort Madison, Iowa, on the 15th of March, 1963, for kidnapping and murder.
Background and the Crime
Timothy James McVeigh was born on the 23rd of April, 1968, in Lockport, New York. A decorated combat veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, McVeigh had developed extreme anti-government views, fixating on events such as the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege and the 1993 Waco siege, which had ended in the fiery destruction of the Branch Davidian compound in Texas.
Conspiring with an army acquaintance, Terry Lynn Nichols, McVeigh assembled a massive truck bomb consisting of approximately 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of ammonium nitrate agricultural fertiliser and nitromethane fuel, packed inside the cargo bay of a hired Ryder rental lorry.
On the morning of Wednesday, the 19th of April, 1995—the second anniversary of the Waco fire—McVeigh drove the lorry to downtown Oklahoma City and parked it outside the north facade of the nine-storey Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which housed several federal agencies and a second-floor day-care centre. Having lit a timed fuse, McVeigh left the truck and walked towards a getaway vehicle parked nearby.
At 9:02 a.m., the bomb detonated with devastating force, shearing away the entire north face of the building and causing large portions of the internal concrete floor slabs to pancake downwards. In total, 168 people were killed, amongst them eight federal law enforcement agents, making it the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in modern American history.
Just ninety minutes later, McVeigh was pulled over by an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer on Interstate 35 near Perry for driving an unregistered Mercury Marquis without a rear licence plate. Noticing a concealed firearm, the patrolman arrested him on weapons charges. Before he could be bailed, federal agents identified the vehicle identification number from an axle of the destroyed Ryder truck found at the blast site, tracing the rental back to McVeigh.
Trial and Sentence
Due to the immense publicity and local grief in Oklahoma, the trial was moved to Denver, Colorado, before US District Judge Richard P. Matsch.
Because capital charges under federal jurisdiction were confined to the deaths of federal law enforcement personnel and the destruction of federal property, McVeigh was indicted on eleven counts: conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by explosive of federal property, and eight counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of federal law enforcement officers killed in the blast. (Charges regarding the remaining 160 victims were reserved for state prosecution, should federal proceedings fail.)
The trial commenced in April 1997. The prosecution presented extensive physical and forensic evidence, including chemical residue recovered from McVeigh’s clothing, telephone and motel records, and eyewitness testimony. His defence attempted to argue a “necessity defence” based on fear of federal overreach, which was disallowed by the court.
On the 2nd of June, 1997, the jury found McVeigh guilty on all eleven counts. Following the penalty hearing, the jury deliberated for eleven hours before unanimously recommending the death penalty on all counts on the 13th of June. On the 14th of August, 1997, Judge Matsch formally passed sentence of death. (Terry Nichols was subsequently convicted in federal court of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter, receiving life imprisonment, and was later convicted in Oklahoma state court of 161 counts of first-degree murder, receiving 161 consecutive life sentences without parole.)
Confinement and the Execution Delay
McVeigh was transferred to the newly constructed Special Confinement Unit (death row) at USP Terre Haute, Indiana. In late 2000, he took the unusual step of instructing his attorneys to drop all remaining federal appeals and petitions for clemency, requesting an immediate execution date. Judge Matsch established the date for the 16th of May, 2001.
However, on the 10th of May, 2001—less than a week before the scheduled date—Attorney General John Ashcroft announced an emergency postponement of thirty days. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had discovered that more than 3,000 pages of investigative documents had been inadvertently withheld from McVeigh’s defence team prior to trial.
McVeigh’s attorneys petitioned for a further stay to examine the documents, but Judge Matsch and the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that none of the withheld materials contained evidence altering the fact of his guilt. On the 7th of June, McVeigh announced that he would pursue no further stays, and the execution was confirmed for the 11th of June.
The Execution
For his final meal, McVeigh requested two pints of mint chocolate-chip ice cream.
On the morning of Monday, the 11th of June, 2001, McVeigh was escorted into the execution chamber at USP Terre Haute shortly before 7:00 a.m. The chamber was a green-walled octagonal room with a gurney placed at the centre. Intravenous catheters had been placed into both of his legs.
Seated behind the three separate glass viewing windows were ten media representatives, five survivors and relatives selected by lottery, and McVeigh’s personal witnesses, including his defense counsel. Due to the high number of victims, a closed-circuit television feed was broadcast to an auditorium in Oklahoma City, where approximately 232 survivors and bereaved relatives watched the proceedings.
When the curtains were drawn at 7:00 a.m., McVeigh was lying strapped to the gurney covered with a sheet up to his chest. He made eye contact with the witnesses, nodding slightly. When asked by Warden Harley Lappin if he had any final statement, McVeigh declined to speak. He had submitted a handwritten copy of the 1875 poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley, concluding with the lines:
“I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
The lethal three-drug cocktail—consisting of sodium thiopental to induce deep anesthesia, pancuronium bromide to paralyse respiration, and potassium chloride to arrest cardiac activity—commenced flowing at 7:09 a.m.
McVeigh’s chest moved slightly as the barbiturate took effect. His eyes remained partially open, staring towards the ceiling-mounted camera, and his breathing ceased within two minutes. No visible convulsions or physical struggle occurred.
At 7:14 a.m. Central Time (8:14 a.m. Eastern), Warden Lappin announced that the sentence had been carried out, and life was formally pronounced extinct. McVeigh was 33 years of age.
In accordance with his prior instructions, McVeigh’s body was transferred to a local mortuary for cremation, and his ashes were handed to his attorney for private dispersal at an undisclosed location. His execution ended a 38-year pause in the federal death penalty and was followed eight days later by the federal execution of Juan Raul Garza.
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