The Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19, 1995, an explosion rocked the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured hundreds more in the nation's deadliest act of terrorism.

Two years later Timothy McVeigh, a 26-year old Army veteran, was convicted on murder and federal conspiracy charges and sentenced to die. McVeigh's Army buddy Terry Nichols was convicted on lesser charges of manslaughter. On May 11, 2001, five days before McVeigh's scheduled execution, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a 30-day delay to allow the convicted bomber's lawyers time to review more than 4,000 pages of FBI documents that had not been turned over prior to McVeigh's 1997 trial.

After a series of unsuccessful appeals, on June 11, 2001 McVeigh was executed at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

						April 19, 1995 – A bomb ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in downtown Oklahoma City at approximately 9:01 a.m. Ninety minutes later, Timothy McVeigh was arrested on a firearms charge after a routine traffic stop near Billings, Okla.
						April 21 – McVeigh was arraigned on charges of destroying federal property and could face the death penalty. Two other men, including Terry Nichols, were questioned by authorities.
						May 23 – Hundreds of spectators watched as the Murrah building was demolished, folding into itself with the detonation of 150 pounds of dynamite.
						August 8 – Michael Fortier, an Army buddy of McVeigh's and the only potential witness with direct knowledge of the bomb plot, agreed to cooperate with authorities.
						August 11 – A federal grand jury returned an 11-count indictment accusing McVeigh and Nichols of conspiring to blow up the Murrah building.
						October 21 – Government prosecutors announced their intention to seek the death penalty against McVeigh and Nichols. The charges warranting captial punishment included first-degree murder, using a weapon of mass destruction and using an explosive to destroy government property.
						February 21, 1996 – A federal judge ordered the trial of McVeigh and Nichols moved to Denver, saying the two men could not get a fair trial anywhere in Oklahoma.
						April 19 – As the country marked the one-year anniversary of the bombing, several questions still remained.
						October 26 – In a blow to the government, U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch ordered separate trials for McVeigh and Nichols.
						September 25 – Judge Matsch rejected the defense team's challenges to the federal death penalty statute, clearing the way for the government to pursue capital punishment if McVeigh and Nichols were found guilty.
						April 1, 1997 – Amid tight security and a huge news media presence, McVeigh's trial opened.
						June 3 – After 23 hours of deliberation, a federal jury convicted McVeigh on all 11 counts of murder, conspiracy and using a weapon of mass destruction.
						August 15 – Without offering any remorse or motive for carrying out the bombing, McVeigh was sentenced to death.
						November 4 – The government opened its case against Nichols.
						November 13 – Fortier detailed efforts by McVeigh and Nichols to secure his participation in the bombing.
						December 24 – After six days of deliberation, a federal jury convicted Nichols of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter. Although he faced the death penalty, he was acquitted of murder and using a weapon of mass destruction in actually carrying out the bombing.
						June 5, 1998 – Calling him "an enemy of the Constitution," Judge Matsch sentenced Nichols to the maximum penalty of life in prison.
						June 30, 1999 – A federal appeals court overturned Fortier's 12-year prison sentenced and ordered a lower court to resentence him based on more lenient guidelines.
						December 13, 2000 – McVeigh asked Judge Matsch to halt all of his appeals and schedule his execution.
						March 30, 2001 – In a new book, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bomging, McVeigh publicly admitted for the first time that he bombed the Murrah building.
						April 12 – Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that bombing survivors and their families would be permitted to view McVeigh's execution via closed circuit television.
						May 11 – Attorney General Ashcroft delayed McVeigh's execution until June 11 in the wake of the FBI's admission that the agency had failed to turn over thousands of pages of documents before the convicted bomber's 1997 trial.
						May 31 – Alleging that the government had committed a "fraud upon the court" in failing to turn over thousands of pages of FBI documents, McVeigh's lawyers asked a federal judge to again delay his execution.
						June 4 – Having previously refused to hear Nichols' appeal, the Supreme Court asked asked the federal government to respond to his request for a hearing on whether the recently revealed FBI documents might have impacted the outcome of his trial.
						June 6 – Judge Matsch denied McVeigh's request for a stay of execution saying the FBI documents did not change the fact that McVeigh was "an instrument of death and destruction." The following day, an appeals court affirmed the judge's decision and McVeigh instructed his lawyers not to appeal to the Supreme Court.
						June 11 – Timothy McVeigh was executed at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the first federal prisoner put to death since 1963.
						Return to Oklahoma City Bombing Special Report

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