The Oklahoma City Bombing

Timothy McVeigh was executed June 11, 2001 for his role in the April 19, 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City which killed 168 people 

Timothy McVeigh was executed June 11, 2001.

From staff and wire reports

On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m., an explosion ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla. It was the worst terrorist attack ever undertaken on American soil. The blast killed 168 people - 19 of them children - and injured hundreds.

About 90 minutes later, Timothy McVeigh was stopped by an Oklahoma state trooper who arrested him on a firearms charge. Two days later, shortly before he was to be released, McVeigh was charged in the bombing. His friend Terry Nichols was arrested in Kansas, and formally charged with the bombing on May 10. Both men were indicted on murder and conspiracy charges, and the case was moved to Denver where McVeigh and Nichols were to be tried separately.

Selected stories At the Oklahoma City National Memorial two gates, marked 9:01 and 9:03, frame the time of the bombing (9:02 a.m.) that killed 168 people. (Photo / James H. Wallace)   EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: MCVEIGH'S DEATH Killer gives no reasons before dying in silence BY DIANA PENNER STAFF WRITER Published: June 12, 2001 VICTIMS AND RELATIVES Viewers struck by look in McVeigh's eyes BY TERRY HORNE STAFF WRITER, June 12, 2001 Discovery of FBI files prompts 30-day delay The decision Attorney general cites importance of preserving integrity of judicial system in ordering postponement. By ROB SCHNEIDER, May 12, 2001 As the Oklahoma City bomber lives out his final days, still struggling survivors take some solace in knowing . . . 'Evil did not triumph' By TERRY HORNE, April 15, 2001 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR Survivors to McVeigh: why? Government invites 1,100 to watch execution, but many still seek killer's motivation By TERRY HORNE, February 4, 2001 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR Terre Haute in public's eye for execution As Timothy McVeigh's death date in May approaches, the city is bracing for a horde of protesters and media. By TERRY HORNE, January 20, 2001

McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy on June 2, 1996, and, on Aug. 14, he was formally sentenced to death. On Dec. 23, 1997, Terry Nichols was found guilty of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter, but not guilty of use of a weapon of mass destruction and destruction by explosive. Judge Richard Matsch told Nichols he would consider some leniency toward him if he cooperated in helping the government learn more about the conspiracy. But Nichols rejected the offer and, in June of 1998, he was sentenced to life in prison.

By the end of 1998, the federal government had spent $82.5 million investigating and prosecuting the case.

In July 1999, McVeigh was moved to the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. In Dec. 2000, he asked for, and was granted, permission to drop all appeals. An execution date of May 16, 2001 was set. But less than a week before the scheduled execution it was revealed that the FBI had failed to make available all documents on the case to McVeigh's attorneys before the trial. The execution was delayed for 30 days to allow for an investigation. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Penitentiary at Terre Haute, Ind. on June 11, 2001.

The following is a detailed timeline of the events surrounding the bombing:
 

Sept. 13: Timothy McVeigh begins his plot to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building.

Sept. 30: The first ton of ammonium nitrate is bought for the bomb from a farm co-op in McPherson, Kan.

Oct. 18: The second ton of fertilizer is purchased.

Oct. 21: McVeigh, disguised as a biker, buys $2,775 worth of nitromethane racing fuel for the bomb at a Texas track.

Dec. 16: McVeigh drives by the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and points it out as his target to his friend, Michael Fortier.

April 14: McVeigh buys his getaway car, a 1977 Mercury Marquis, at a Firestone store in Junction City, Kan. He checks into the Dreamland Motel.

April 16: McVeigh leaves the car in Oklahoma City. His friend, Terry Nichols, drives him back to Kansas.

April 17: McVeigh shows up at Elliott’s Body Shop in Junction City to pick up the 20-foot Ryder truck that will hold the bomb. He uses the name Robert D. Kling and claims his destination is Omaha, Neb.

April 19: A bomb rips through Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building at 9:02 a.m., killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring hundreds of others. McVeigh is arrested 90 minutes later on firearms charge after a traffic stop near Billings, Okla.

April 20: Authorities release sketches of suspects John Doe No. 1 and John Doe No. 2.

April 21: Shortly before he was to be released, McVeigh is recognized as a bombing suspect and charged in the bombing; after an initial court appearance, McVeigh is taken to federal prison in El Reno, Okla.; Terry Nichols surrenders in Herington, Kan., and he and his brother, James, are held as material witnesses; FBI agents conduct searches in Kingman, Ariz.; President Clinton declares a national day of mourning for April 23.

April 23: Memorial service with Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno, the Rev. Billy Graham; nurse Rebecca Anderson, who was helping in rescue, dies of head injuries.

In one of the most dramatic images of the day, firefighter Chris Fields carries Baylee Almon, who later died of her injuries. AP photographer Charles H. Porter IV won the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph. (AP photo)

The north wall of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was blown off by explosives packed into a rented truck. (AP photo)

April 24: McVeigh’s court-appointed attorneys ask to be taken off case.

April 25: FBI releases enhanced sketch of John Doe No. 2.

April 26: Federal judge orders Terry Nichols moved to Oklahoma; Clinton upgrades bombing to major disaster.

April 27: U.S. magistrate orders McVeigh held without bail.

April 28: Custody hearing for James Nichols in Michigan is delayed until May 2.

May 1: FBI releases third sketch, a profile of John Doe No. 2; search for evidence focuses on Kansas fishing lake; FBI raids trailer home in Kingman, and agents carry away boxes and crates.

May 2: FBI takes Gary Alan Land and Robert Jacks into custody in Carthage, Mo., but releases them after 18 hours; a federal magistrate in Milan, Mich., orders James Nichols held on an explosives charge unrelated to the Oklahoma case; Clinton asks Congress for $142 million to pay to investigate the bombing, raze the federal building and establish replacement offices; federal grand jury meets at Tinker Air Force Base.

May 3: Federal public defender's office in Wichita, Kan., requests the delay of Terry Nichols’ removal from that city to Oklahoma City.

May 4: Search of building called off at 11:50 p.m.; two bodies left in rubble; federal judge in Wichita delays transfer of Terry Nichols until May 10.

May 5: Rescue workers return to scene for memorial service; Terry Nichols’ attorneys file appeal to delay his May 10 transfer from Wichita to Oklahoma City; Clinton expands his April 26 disaster declaration.

May 6: Relatives of victims visit site.

May 8: Oklahoma congressional delegation says building should be razed; memorial services for Christy Rosas and Virginia Thompson, whose bodies remain in building; U.S. District Judge David Russell names Stephen Jones as McVeigh’s new defense attorney.

May 9: General Services Administration says building will be brought down by implosion.

May 10: Terry Nichols is charged in bombing and brought to El Reno.

Surrounded by officers, bombing suspect Tim McVeigh is escorted from the Noble County Courthouse in Perry, Okla. (AP photo)

May 11: Terry Nichols makes his initial court appearance; James Nichols indicted by federal grand jury in Michigan on explosives charges unrelated to Oklahoma case.

May 12: Steven Garrett Colbern, a possible associate of McVeigh, arrested on unrelated weapons charge in Oatman, Ariz.

June 14: Authorities admit sketches of John Doe No. 2 are of innocent Army private at Fort Riley, Kan.

Aug. 7: McVeigh attorney Stephen Jones suggests unidentified leg found in rubble could belong to "the real bomber."

Aug. 8: McVeigh friend Michael Fortier and his wife testify before grand jury.

Aug. 11: Grand jury indicts McVeigh and Terry Nichols on murder and conspiracy charges. Fortier pleads guilty to a minor firearms charge as part of a plea agreement.

Sept. 14: U.S. District Judge Wayne Alley denies requests from both sides that he step aside because his office and courtroom were damaged by bomb. He sets trial for May 17 in Lawton, 90 miles from Oklahoma City.

Oct. 20: Attorney General Janet Reno authorizes prosecutors to seek death penalty.

Nov. 21: Defense attorneys seek to move trial out of Oklahoma, arguing that intense media coverage tainted jury pool.

Dec. 1: Federal appeals court removes Alley, ruling that bomb damage to his courtroom and chambers could raise doubts about his impartiality. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch of Denver is appointed to preside.

1996

Feb. 20: Matsch moves case to Denver, ruling that McVeigh and Nichols have been "demonized" by intense media coverage in Oklahoma.

July 15: Matsch says law establishing closed-circuit telecast of trial is constitutional. He later orders telecast to be shown in government auditorium near Oklahoma City airport.

Oct. 25: Matsch orders McVeigh and Terry Nichols to be tried separately, ruling that their rights could be compromised by a joint trial. Nichols will be tried after McVeigh.

1997

Jan. 27: Four FBI workers who evaluated evidence are transferred out of crime lab in wake of federal report critical of lab procedures.

Feb. 20: Matsch denies defense requests to eliminate testimony of six prosecution eyewitnesses who changed portions of their accounts.

Feb. 28: The Dallas Morning News reports that McVeigh confessed. Two other reports on purported confession follow.

March 19: Clinton signs bill allowing victims who are possible witnesses to attend trial.

March 31: Jury selection begins in McVeigh’s trial.

April 22: Jury seated.

April 24: Opening statements begin.

May 21: Prosecutors rest their case after calling 137 witnesses in 18 days.

May 28: Defense rests after calling 25 witnesses in 31/2 days.

May 29: Closing arguments.

May 30: Jurors begin deliberations.

June 2: Jury convicts McVeigh on all 11 counts. Panel to return to decide if he should get death penalty.

June 6: Prosecution rests in penalty phase after calling 38 witnesses in two days; defense begins its penalty case.

June 11: Defense rests in penalty phase after calling 27 witnesses over four days.

June 12: Closing arguments in penalty phase. Deliberations begin.

June 13: Jury decides unanimously to impose the death penalty.

Aug. 14: McVeigh’s death sentence is formally imposed and the details of a letter he wrote asking that his attorney be replaced are revealed.

Aug. 20: Stephen Jones asks to be removed as McVeigh’s attorney.

Sept. 29: Jury selection begins in Terry Nichols’ trial.

Nov. 3: Opening statements begin.

Dec. 2: Prosecutors rest case after calling 98 witnesses in 20 days.

Dec. 11: Defense rests after calling 92 witnesses in eight days.

Dec. 15-16: Closing arguments.

Terry Nichols

Dec. 23: Terry Nichols is found guilty of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction for plotting to use an explosive to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building and involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of eight federal agents. He was found not guilty of use of a weapon of mass destruction and destruction by explosive.

1998

Jan. 7: Jury deadlocks during sentencing phase of Terry Nichols’ trial.

Jan. 8: U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch gives lawyers until Feb. 9 to file briefs on the punishment for Terry Nichols. Matsch did not set a sentencing date.

March 23: Terry Nichols delivered a 16-page letter to Matsch saying he would give up his life if it would bring back the 168 people who died in the blast. The letter stated that Nichols never wanted to harm or kill anyone or to damage or destroy any buildings.

March 24: Matsch says he would consider some leniency in sentencing if Nichols helped the government learn more about the conspiracy. The judge also says he had planned a sentencing hearing for April 17 but postponed that indefinitely after lawyers for the bombing victims raised the issue of restitution for the first time.

April 21: Terry Nichols rejects an offer of leniency in exchange for information about the Oklahoma City bombing, saying it would put him in legal jeopardy if he is tried in Oklahoma.

April 28: Oral arguments will be heard by the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on McVeigh’s challenge of his conviction.

May 1: Attorneys for Michael Fortier say in federal court that their client has served two years and eight months, which is eight months more than the term agreed to with prosecutors, and should be released. But prosecutors have said Fortier should serve closer to 23 years despite his cooperation. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 27.

Michael Fortier

May 27: Fortier, who had failed to warn anyone of the Oklahoma City bombing but later testified against the men convicted in the plot, is sentenced in U.S. District Court to 12 years in prison.

June 4: Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison after he refuses to answer lingering questions about how he helped plan and pull off the Oklahoma City bombing.

June 10: Attorneys for Fortier file a notice that they intend to appeal his sentence on the grounds that the penalty was based on false claims.

July 8: A motion for a new trial for Terry Nichols is rejected. His attorneys had said deliberations were contaminated because two jurors admitted conversing about the case privately.

Sept. 8: The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that McVeigh was fairly convicted and sentenced.

Sept. 22: McVeigh asks an appeals court to rehear arguments that his conviction should be overturned because of a tainted juror.

Oct. 7: McVeigh's request for a rehearing is turned down by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nov. 3: The U.S. Department of Justice releases figures showing that the federal government spent $82.5 million investigating and prosecuting the case. McVeigh's defense cost taxpayers about $15 million. In the first 51/2 months after the bombing, the FBI used 2,592 agents and spent more than $25.9 million. In a little over 38 months, the FBI spent $60.6 million. Prosecutors spent $11.8 million on their own salaries, travel, rent, supplies and other expenses.

Workmen put the finishing touches on the Oklahoma City National Memorial. (AP photo)

1999

March 9: The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear McVeigh’s arguments that his trial was tainted by jury misconduct and news reports that he had confessed.

July 13: McVeigh arrives at Terre Haute’s U.S. Penitentiary.

2000

Apr. 19: The Oklahoma City National Memorial is dedicated. It cost $ 29 million, and is set on three acres of land, with a reflecting pool and 168 chairs -149 big chairs that represent the adults killed and 19 small chairs which represent the children.

Dec. 28: Matsch agrees to let McVeigh drop all appeals and get a prompt execution date. He gives him until Jan. 11, 2001, to change his mind.

2001

Jan. 11: McVeigh reaffirms his decision to die.

Jan. 16: An execution date of May 16, the soonest allowed by law, is set. McVeigh has another 30 days in which to seek executive clemency.

Feb. 1: McVeigh writes a letter to The Sunday Oklahoman, questioning the fairness of limiting the witnesses to his execution and saying he is not opposed to a closed-circuit, or even public, broadcast.

Feb. 15: The deadline passes by which McVeigh could have asked for clemency from President Bush.

Mar. 9: McVeigh's attorneys and Coroner Susan Amos of Vigo County, Ind., sign an agreement under which there would be no autopsy on McVeigh after his execution - pending approval by Judge Matsch.

Mar. 19: Judge Matsch says he approves of the no autopsy agreement, but noted that he believes his jurisdiction ends when McVeigh dies.

Apr. 10: Timothy McVeigh's father Bill McVeigh, and his sister, Jennifer, visited the Penitentiary at Terre haute.

Apr. 12: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announces that survivors and family members of the bombing will be allowed to watch the execution of Timothy McVeigh on a secure, closed-circuit television feed in Oklahoma City. He also said that 10 people, instead of eight, will be chosen to be witnesses in person.

Apr. 18: U.S. District Judge John Tinder ruled that the Bureau of Prisons witness policy did not discriminate against Entertainment Network Inc. or Liveontheweb.com , rejecting their request to broadcast McVeigh's execution live over the Internet.

Apr. 26: Fox News released a letter from McVeigh in which he said he considered assassinating Attorney General Janet Reno and others instead of bombing the Oklahoma City federal building. Other potential targets were federal Judge Walter Smith, who presided over the Waco trial, and Lon Horiuchi, an FBI agent involved in the shootout at Ruby Ridge.

Apr. 27: The White House said it had received a letter to President Bush from Pope John Paul II asking Bush to spare the life of Timothy McVeigh.

May 5: The Bureau of Prisons upset relatives of bombing victims by allowing McVeigh to choose author Gore Vidal as one of the "friend" witnesses to his execution.

May 10: Six days before McVeigh's execution, the Justice Department acknowledged finding 3,135 pages of evidence that should have been provided to the bomber's lawyers before his trial.

May 11: Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered a thirty-day postponement, to June 11, of the execution to allow attorneys to review the documents they just received. The FBI blamed an outdated computer system for its failure to turn over the documents.

May 14: Because of the failture of the FBI to turn over documents in McVeigh's case, attorneys for co-conspirator Terry Nichols asked the Supreme Court to reconsider his case.

May 24: Ashcroft said all of the previously missing documents in the Oklahoma City bombing case - a total of 4,034 pages - had been turned over to McVeigh's lawyers. He emphasized that none of the documents created any doubt about McVeigh's guilt and said he would not postpone the execution beyond June 11.

June 1: McVeigh changed his position on refusing any appeals and decided to allow his attorneys to file papers in Denver to argue for a stay of execution.

June 7: Minutes after a federal appeals court turned down his request for a stay of execution, McVeigh abruptly dropped all of his legal appeals and said he is ready to die.

June 11: Timothy James McVeigh was pronounced dead at 7:14 a.m. He said nothing prior to his execution but issued a written statement quoting from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley.

Sept. 5: Wes Lane, Oklahoma City district attorney, said he would prosecute Terry Nichols on state murder charges. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Oct. 26: Government records were released indicating a total of $15.1 million was spent defending Timothy McVeigh.