<P> Numerous damaging leaks, which appeared to originate from conversations between McVeigh and his defense attorneys, emerged . They included a confession said to have been inadvertently included on a computer disk that was given to the press, which McVeigh believed seriously compromised his chances of getting a fair trial . A gag order was imposed during the trial, prohibiting attorneys on either side from commenting to the press on the evidence, proceedings, or opinions regarding the trial proceedings . The defense was allowed to enter into evidence six pages of a 517 - page Justice Department report criticizing the FBI crime laboratory and David Williams, one of the agency's explosives experts, for reaching unscientific and biased conclusions . The report claimed that Williams had worked backward in the investigation rather than basing his determinations on forensic evidence . </P> <P> The jury deliberated for 23 hours . On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy . Although the defense argued for a reduced sentence of life imprisonment, McVeigh was sentenced to death . In May 2001, the Justice Department announced that the FBI had mistakenly failed to provide over 3,000 documents to McVeigh's defense counsel . The Justice Department also announced that the execution would be postponed for one month for the defense to review the documents . On June 6, federal judge Richard Paul Matsch ruled the documents would not prove McVeigh innocent and ordered the execution to proceed . After President George W. Bush approved the execution (McVeigh was a federal inmate and federal law dictates that the President must approve the execution of federal prisoners), he was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11 . The execution was transmitted on closed - circuit television so that the relatives of the victims could witness his death . McVeigh's execution was the first federal execution in 38 years . </P> <P> Nichols stood trial twice . He was first tried by the federal government in 1997 and found guilty of conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction and of eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers . After he was sentenced on June 4, 1998 to life without parole, the State of Oklahoma in 2000 sought a death - penalty conviction on 161 counts of first - degree murder (160 non-federal agent victims and one fetus). On May 26, 2004 the jury found him guilty on all charges, but deadlocked on the issue of sentencing him to death . Presiding Judge Steven W. Taylor then determined the sentence of 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole . In March 2005, FBI investigators, acting on a tip, searched a buried crawl space in Nichols' former house and found additional explosives missed in the preliminary search after Nichols was arrested . </P> <P> Michael and Lori Fortier were considered accomplices for their foreknowledge of the planning of the bombing . In addition to Michael assisting McVeigh in scouting the federal building, Lori had helped McVeigh laminate a fake driver's license which was later used to rent the Ryder truck . Fortier agreed to testify against McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife . He was sentenced on May 27, 1998 to twelve years in prison and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the attack . On January 20, 2006, after serving ten and a half years of his sentence, including time already served, Fortier was released for good behavior into the Witness Protection Program and given a new identity . </P>

Bombing of the federal building in oklahoma city