McVeigh’s Personal Items to Go to Family

Army medals and commendations that belonged to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy J. McVeigh will be given to his family, his lawyer said.

U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch, who presided over the 1997 trial in Denver that found McVeigh guilty of bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, said exhibits introduced by McVeigh’s lawyers will be given to attorney Rob Nigh Jr. of Tulsa, Okla. Nigh said the order clears the way for him to give McVeigh’s personal items to his family.

Nigh represented McVeigh for about five years until he was executed June 11, 2001, for the bombing that killed 168 people.

McVeigh’s medals were introduced by his lawyers at the penalty phase of his trial to show he had been an outstanding soldier during the Persian Gulf War and should not be sentenced to death.

Large pieces of the Ryder rental truck used to carry the explosives and a .45-caliber pistol seized from McVeigh soon after the blast are among the hundreds of exhibits that prosecutors will receive.