Convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh says his execution should be televised.
In a letter to an Oklahoma newspaper, McVeigh said it was unfair to limit the number of witnesses to his execution." But federal prison officials told B&C it would be against government policy to allow such a broadcast. The government is in the process of arranging for witnesses to the execution and might consider a closed-circuit arrangement similar to the one at McVeigh's trial.
McVeigh was tried in Denver and although that trial was closed to TV cameras, it was carried via closed circuit to Oklahoma, where interest was obviously high. McVeigh is scheduled to die May 16 in Terre Haute, Ind.
McVeigh noted that observers said: " `all of Oklahoma' was a victim of the bombing. Can `all of Oklahoma' watch?" He also questioned whether his own chosen witnesses should be limited to six, as the Bureau of Prisons has determined. - Dan Trigoboff
