Biography
American terrorist convicted of committing the largest act of terrorism
on American soil on 4/19/1995. The ammonium nitrate bombing of the Alfred
P. Murrah federal building claimed 168 victims between the ages of four
months old to 73 years old. McVeigh's stubborn refusal to express any
remorse has tormented the families of his victims. His psychiatrist feels
that he was committed to the ideal that he must object to a federal
government that had become excessively oppressive and deceitful. In
Smith's opinion, McVeigh is not mentally ill, because he does not suffer
from any "cognitive defects or psychiatric illnesses." He was
able to rationally make the decision to bomb the building and "fully
understood the consequences," Smith said. "He had an underlying
depression, but he was not anti-social." "It became easier to
act because he had nothing," Smith said. "He needed an enemy.
This whole project was his antidepressant. He intellectualizes to avoid
emotion, to avoid pain." Empathy was not part of his agenda.
McVeigh grew up in Pendleton, a small upstate New York town. He had a
happy childhood swimming in his family's pool, hiking and playing with the
neighborhood kids. He enjoyed organizing casino games for local kids on
the block. His father and mother divorced when he was ten-years-old. He
grew closer to his dad, helping him cultivate his vegetable garden. His
mom moved to Florida with his younger sister Jennifer, and she married a
coast guard. With a normal and healthy pattern, in Starpoint High School,
McVeigh participated in track and field and was a member of the honor
society. He worked at a local fast food chain and dated high school
girlfriends. In his senior year, he grew interested in computers. After
graduation in 1986, he enrolled in the local business college, but soon
became bored with his computer classes. In 1987, he moved to Buffalo, New
York and took a job as a security guard.
Looking for excitement, he signed up for the U.S. Army on 5/24/1988.
McVeigh took to military life and the comradeship with his fellow troops
at Fort Benning, Georgia, becoming a straight-arrow soldier. He was
promoted to corporal and then to sergeant. During the Persian Gulf War,
McVeigh was sent to Iraq as a gunner on a Bradley fighting vehicle. On
returning to the States, he sensed a major shift in the U.S. Army. The
post-cold-war army downsizing changed his life as he watched his
companions leave military service. In March 1991, he dropped out of the
Special Forces qualification course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Allowing himself to get out of shape cut his chances for reaching the
upper echelon of military duty. Discharged from the army, McVeigh tried to
adjust to civilian life.
In 1993, he arrived in Waco to watch the standoff between the Branch
Davidians and federal agents. He wandered around the country as a militant
drifter visiting guns shows and selling guns and ammunition from his car.
His political views became more racist and far-right as he kept company
with political militia groups harboring anger against the U.S. government.
On 4/19/1994, McVeigh returned to Waco and declared himself a "non
resident alien." He claimed the U.S. Army had implanted a computer
chip in his derriere during his active duty. In 1993 and early 1994,
McVeigh spent time with his army buddy, Terry Nichols. The two were
intrigued by making homemade bombs and setting them off on a Michigan
farm. McVeigh never went out without his black semiautomatic gun jammed
into the back of his pants.
On 4/19/1995, at 9:02 AM CDT*, a bomb of massive carnage and
destruction exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City, OK. The building was the main office for the federal agents who were
involved in the Waco Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, TX. Two hours after
the bombing, McVeigh was stopped by a policeman for a traffic violation 70
miles from Oklahoma City. McVeigh was almost released until the police
recognized him as one of the possible suspects in the terrorist act. Upon
interrogation, he implicated the Nichols brothers, James Douglas (born
4/03/1954) and Terry Lynn (born 4/01/1955).
McVeigh was found guilty on 5/29/1997 for conspiracy to use a weapon of
mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by
explosive, and eight counts of first degree murder. On 6/13/1997, he was
sentenced to death.
On 12/28/2000 McVeigh requested U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, who
presided over his trial, to let him drop all of his appeals of the death
sentence and set a date for his execution. The judge complied and
scheduled a date for his execution by lethal injection on 5/16/2001.
The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, will not sell "American
Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing," a
controversial new book (April 2001) in which the unrepentant convicted
bomber refers to his child victims as "collateral damage," in
any of its 1,724 stores.
In a startling twist, it was revealed in early May that all the
documentation of evidence had not been disclosed, leading to a stay of
execution. On 5/31/2001, Timothy McVeigh asked for a stay of execution and
immediately the Justice Department denied his lawyers' assertion that the
government still has failed to provide documents relating to the Oklahoma
City bombing investigation.
McVeigh faced his execution by lethal chemical injection on 6/11/2001,
7:00 AM EST, United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana, 87W25,
39N28. News reports stated that he died at 7:14 AM local time, about 10
minutes after the execution began.
(*A video of the Ryder truck from the Regency Towers read 8:57 AM and
the first bomb went off at 9:02 AM: taken from websites.)
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