Oklahoma City bombing Trial

Illustration: Timothy McVeigh, outside Denver courthouse.

 In June, 1997, a jury of seven men and five women found Timothy McVeigh guilty of the worst act of terrorism ever committed in the United States: the april 19, 1995, bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The bomb blast, which blew away the entire front of the building, killed 168 people, including 19 children.

At the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that linked the 29-year-old McVeigh to the rental truck that carried the bomd. Witnesses told of McVeigh's deep hatred of the federal government and of his belief that violence against the government was justified. The defense focused on McVeigh's record as a decorated U.S. Army veteran, contending that he didn't rent or drive the truck that carried the bomb. The bombing, defense attorneys suggested, had been carried out by an unidentified man who had died in the blast.

The jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for almost 23 hours. A few days later, the court reconvened to decide McVeigh's punishment. After listening to testamony from survivors of the bombing and relatives of some of the victims, the jury sentenced him to death.

DID YOU KNOW....McVeigh was tried in a federal court in Denver, Colorado, because judges didn't think he could get a fair trial in Oklahoma, where the bombing took place.

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