McVeigh found guilty of blowing up fed building

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Jurors reached a verdict today after 23 1/2 hours of deliberations over four days.

McVeigh, a 29-year-old Gulf War veteran, could get the death penalty if convicted in the April 19, 1995, blast that killed 168 people - the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

With word that a verdict was reached, about 100 people, many of them victims' relatives, lined up outside the federal courthouse to get a seat inside. A few ran to get a place in the line.

The prosecution team arrived about 1:15 p.m., followed a few minutes later by lead defense attorney Stephen Jones and his team. None had commented as they passed reporters.

Police officers, including some on horseback, patrolled the area, prodding passers-by to move along.

Through the long wait for a verdict, victims' relatives have passed the time in the courthouse area and near a hot line phone set up in a nearby church for word on a verdict.

"They're playing games, watching videos, putting together puzzles, anything to pass the time and avoid looking at the clock," Marsha Kight, who lost her 23-year-old daughter in the bombing, said this morning as she waited in a cafeteria in a federal building next to the courthouse.

Jones said he has waited for a lot of juries, and agrees it is never easy.

"I've never been able to decide what's more difficult, waiting for the jury or waiting for the birth of yet another child. I think both involved a lot of patience," he said as he left the federal courthouse.

The seven-man, five-woman panel cut short its third day of deliberations without a verdict Sunday after its request to attend individual church services was turned down by a federal judge.

Sources close to the case who asked that they not be identified said U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch was concerned the sequestered panel might be influenced by sermons. The judge gave them the afternoon off instead.

"I am going to grant your request that you recess your deliberations now and take the rest of the day off," Matsch told jurors after their 3 1/2 -hour session. "Take advantage of this time now to rest and relax a bit."

In Oklahoma City, where bombing survivors and victims' friends and relatives watched the trial over a closed-circuit feed, the short day came as a relief to some.

"I think it's a blessing in disguise," said Vicki Hamm, a friend of many victims. "I think that's because people watching the trial here will need all their energy when the jury resumes tomorrow."

Anxiety over the wait for a verdict also arose in a sermon in Oklahoma City, where the congregation of the First United Methodist Church was told to seek justice - not revenge.

"There's a lot of people here in Oklahoma City that are getting hate in their hearts," Associate Pastor Todd Scoggins said. "I don't know what the outcome may be, but the thing we have to watch is that hate does not plant a seed in our hearts."

Several voices in the congregation called out in response, "Amen!"

Jones said McVeigh is coping relatively well.

"This is a man that went to war in the Persian Gulf and was in the Army, so he's used to waiting," Jones said.