April 23, 1968
June 11, 2001

Terrorist and Mass Murderer

When a truck bomb exploded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 19, 1995, it killed and injured hundreds of innocent victims, including nineteen children under the age of six. The target of the attack was the Murrah Federal Building and its government employees. The nation was stunned to learn that the bombing was not carried out by international terrorists but was the work of an American whose background was similar to that of many other citizens. After being captured in a routine traffic stop, Timothy McVeigh was charged, tried, and sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing. His case divided the American public over the controversial issue of the death penalty. (See original entry on McVeigh in Outlaws, Mobsters & Crooks, Volume 2.)

From Supermax to Terre Haute

Timothy McVeigh spent most of his sentence in Supermax, a federal penitentiary at the foot...