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Last Hours of OK Bomber
By
Nolan Clay
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| They called it
"Operation ELM TREE." Federal prison officials put
that name to the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy
McVeigh and documented minute by minute his last day. The
29-page official record, called the execution facility log,
was released to The Oklahoman last week. It reveals some new
details surrounding the June 11 execution, which was recognized
worldwide last week as one of the most significant events
of 2001. |
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| McVeigh,
33, was put to death at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute,
Ind. He was executed by lethal injection for the deadly 1995
attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. His last
27 hours were spent in the execution facility, a one-story
, red-brick building also known as the "death house."
The official log,typed |
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mostly
from guards' handwritten notes, features on its cover a picture
of the Survivor Tree. "The only living thing that survived
the blast at ground zero was a 70-year-old American Elm Tree,
which still stands today as part of the memorial to the victims
of the Oklahoma City Bombing," reads the caption on the
cover. "Hence the name for this operation." McVeigh
was moved to the execution facility at 4:25 a.m. June 10 and
showered an hour later. When the water was at first cold,
he said, "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
McVeigh spent much of his final hours sleeping or watching
TV, including the news channel CNN. Officers wrote he was
smiling and laughing at one TV program.
But officers noted McVeigh at times was restless, grimaced,
paced, and tossed and turned in his sleep. He was given the
antacid, Maalox, shortly after his arrival.
He wanted only orange juice for breakfast June 10.
Warden Harley Lappin delivered his last meal, two pints of
mint chocolate chip ice cream, at 12:11 p.m. June 10.
Officers were so meticulous in keeping the log that they made
eight more notes about the ice cream, concluding when he finished
the second pint three hours later and the second container
and spoon were removed from his cell.
A radio was brought to the execution facility at 5:50 p.m.
June 10 so McVeigh could listen to a religious broadcast.
McVeigh had trouble sleeping his last night. He turned off
his TV at 9 p.m. but 10 minutes later was "very restless,
moving blankets around." Seven minutes after that, a
guard wrote, "Inmate lying in bed, staring at ceiling."
Before going to sleep, McVeigh asked that his lights be turned
on at 3 a.m. June 11 so he would wake up. Guards noted, "He
also stated he appreciated this."
McVeigh did wake up at 3 a.m., to watch television. His execution
then was only four hours away.
At 4:29 a.m., his attorneys, Rob Nigh and Nathan Chambers,
visited. They left 20 minutes later.
At 6:07 a.m., McVeigh turned the television on for the final
time. Two minutes later, he was stripped and searched, and
a deputy coroner checked him for any signs of abuse.
At 6:13 a.m., McVeigh was given new underwear, socks, shoes,
khaki pants and a white T-shirt. He then signed a waiver to
avoid an autopsy.
At 6:18 a.m., guards placed McVeigh in restraints in his cell
and a prison chaplain gave him last rites there. He then was
moved to the execution room.
At 6:34 a.m., according to the log, "Inmate McVeigh is
secured to the execution table. All restraints are checked
for security and circulation. The IV insertion process is
initiated."
The witnesses were in place by 6:57
a.m. and a transmission to victims in Oklahoma City began
at 7:05 a.m., after a temporary malfunction.
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At
7:06 a.m., according to the log, "Warden asks inmate
McVeigh if he wishes to make a last statement. There
is no response from inmate McVeigh. Warden then reads
the Warden's statement."
The warden then asked U.S. Marshal Frank Anderson "if
we may proceed." The marshal checked by phone with
the Justice Department's Command Center and informed
the warden to proceed.
The log notes the first injection began at 7:08 a.m.,
the second injection began at 7:10 a.m. and the third
injection began at 7:12 a.m.
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Among the log's
last entries is: "Warden announced that inmate McVeigh
died at 7:14 a.m."
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