Preparation

The careful preparation taken by the authors is apparent from the pages of questions they listed before interviews with McVeigh.  Some of the questions put together for several of those visits are included in the collection, as well as a reporter's notebook from one of the  interviews concerning the trial and transcriptions of similar material. Correspondence from the Dept. of Justice permitting interviews completes this section. (F) See Other Sources for more background materials in the collection.

McVeigh Materials

The collection includes original and photocopied letters from Timothy McVeigh to the authors.  These letters are a sampling of the many he sent to them describing his background and philosophy.  They often followed up on conversations held with him in the federal prisons. (A, except where noted otherwise). Over 100 letters and their attachments were added to the collection in 2009. A description of those may be found here.

11 August 1995 pages of The Daily Oklahoman reporting on the indictment of McVeigh and Terry Nichols.  These are from McVeigh's copy of the paper. 

14 July 1999 postmark.  To Michel.  Discusses racism, political spectrum; Star Trek : The Next Generation episode list; clippings listing federal agencies and Dave Barry column discussing Saddam Hussein.

Sept. 1999.  Waco articles from the WWW sent to McVeigh by a college student investigating the criminal justice system.  Forwarded to the authors by McVeigh at a later date. (G)

23 Dec. 1999 postmark. To Herbeck. Media Bypass Magazine article about McVeigh with his marginal notes and comments.

20 January 2000 postmark.  To Herbeck.  Follows up on interview.  McVeigh suggests looking at April 19, 1775 (Patriot's Day) events; enclosed pages of Media Bypass articles.

29 February 2000?.  To Michel.  Thoughts on Waco; clipping about Carol Howe.

13 March 2000 postmark.  To Herbeck.  Portion of letter about the trial discussing why he didn't testify, other occurrences.  

22 March 2000 postmark.  To Herbeck.  Forwarded letter from doctor offering to take McVeigh's place in prison.

20 April 2000?.  To Herbeck.  Answering questions about payments to lawyer; alternate defense strategies, MF (Michael Fortier) testimony.

April 2000.  Solicitation from Time for McVeigh's subscription, with his comments.

18 May 2000.  From Herbeck to McVeigh.  Questions regarding trial.

9 Aug. 2000.  To Herbeck. Note commenting on completion of biographical work; clippings--book review for Up the River, "Letters" page from Newsweek, article about FBI.

22 Nov.? 2000 postmark. To Herbeck. Invitation to execution.

19 February 2001.  To Michel.  Letter addressing accusations of being a sociopath, or delusional; sex life; John Brown.  (Q)

March 2001 (date from clippings).  To Michel. Clippings regarding possible protests at execution; effects of solitary confinement.

13 March 2001 postmark.  To Michel. News clippings with commentary regarding international events and government activity. (P)

13 March 2001.  To Herbeck.  Clippings--Execution's impact on community; US Marshal, attendant at upcoming execution, may run for office; trucker tries to leave Bible for McVeigh.

11 June 2001.  "Final Written Statement of Timothy McVeigh", a handwritten transcription of  the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley.

To Herbeck. Photo of McVeigh being escorted to Oklahoma City courtroom. (no source/date)

Parenthetical letters--(A)--included with descriptions of the collection indicate the folder where items are filed.

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McVeigh on the trial

The collection includes a substantial amount of material relating McVeigh's observations on his trial.  This includes copies of his written responses to questions and transcriptions of interviews.  (D, E)  Portions of the trial transcripts in the collection are noted below.

Please Note:  No electronic reproduction of any of the material in this collection may be made without the written permission of the authors.

Other sources

The trial transcripts provided basic source material for the authors.  They also used the World Wide Web and interviews with other people involved in the story, including victims and their families, McVeigh's relatives and various participants in the trial and events leading up to the bombing.

Folder of examples of news reports, chronologies and from the Web, "Operation Vampire Killer 2000" flyer, Flint, Mich. area phone numbers. (E)

29 Dec. 2000.  To Herbeck.  Judge Richard P. Matsch declines to be interviewed. (F)

Court documents
Portion of Terry Nichols trial transcript.  (H)

Copy of indictment of McVeigh and Nichols. (I)

Portion of Timothy McVeigh trial transcript.  Includes testimony given 15 May 1997, some regarding arrest; closing statement of prosecution; McVeigh's parents testimony; arguments in death penalty phase; Sheila Nicholas's testimony. (I)

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The Execution 

The Oklahoma City Bombing story came to a kind of ending with the execution of Timothy McVeigh.  Authors Michel and Herbeck were there to cover that event and included their reports and other materials related to the execution on the collection.  (L)

Anticipation of and reaction to the execution was worldwide and discussed the merits of the death penalty generally as well as its specific implications in McVeigh's case.  Reports from Oklahoma City, foreign responses, personal and organizational reactions and reports on media coverage of the event are well represented in the collection. (M, N)  

The Aftermath

Of course the story doesn't really end with McVeigh's execution and the collection includes some of the authors' follow-up research. Waco, Ruby Ridge, Branch Dravidians, militias, the FBI, the Nichols and Fortier trials, and the tribulations of James Nichols are covered here. (N)

Parenthetical letters--(A)--included with descriptions of the collection indicate the folder where items are filed.

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Please Note:  No electronic reproduction of any of the material in this collection may be made without the written permission of the authors.

This collection is available for the use of St. Bonaventure University faculty, staff and students.  Outside researchers must first get permission from the authors. 

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Last updated: 20 April 2010

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