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US Oklahoma Bomber Seeks to Delay Execution
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh on Thursday sought to delay his execution on June 11, accusing the US government of withholding evidence in a "fraud upon the court."
Attorney Robert Nigh said it was not easy for McVeigh to challenge his June 11 execution date.
"He had prepared to die and he was ready to die on May 16," Nigh said after meeting with his client at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
"He is convinced ... that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will not otherwise be held to account unless he takes this action," Nigh said.
McVeigh's attorneys said that their review of thousands of pages of FBI documents recently turned over by the agency indicates the FBI still has other undisclosed information it did not make available.
The request for a delay of execution was formally filed in a federal court in Denver.
Attorney General John Ashcroft immediately reiterated the government would oppose any delay of McVeigh's execution.
"No document in this case creates any doubt about McVeigh's guilt or establishes his innocence ... we know that he is responsible for this crime," he said.
McVeigh's execution, which had been set for May 16, was postponed to June 11 after the FBI failed to turn over thousands of documents to McVeigh's lawyers.
McVeigh, a 33-year-old Gulf War veteran, was convicted of murdering in the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City.
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