OKC Bomber Jury Ponders Sentence

Three years to the day that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed, jurors continued deliberating whether his conspirator should die or spend his life in prison.

It took the 12-member panel only five hours on May 26 to convict Terry Nichols of 161 counts of first-degree murder for deaths in the April 19, 1995, blast at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The sentencing deliberations — 12 hours so far — entered their third day Friday.

About 30 victims were awaiting the verdict at a nearby church, reported The Oklahoman newspaper.

Victims' family members who believe Nichols should get the death penalty said they are concerned the jury is taking longer to decide Nichols' sentence than it did to find him guilty.

"You might say we're disappointed. It's been a day and a half," said Joyce Cleveland, 64, whose daughter, Pamela Argo, died in the federal building's Social Security Administration office.

"It shouldn't take this long. They know he did it," said a worried Doris Smith, whose parents, Calvin and Peola Battle, died in the 1995 attack on the federal building.

"He should get the death penalty, but I can't control that," said Smith, of Oklahoma City. "If they give him life without parole, I'll have to live with it."

Survivor Priscilla Salyers is concerned the lengthy deliberations could mean jurors will not reach a decision.

"I think there's some kind of a problem," Salyers said. "I can't imagine being on this jury. It's got to be hard to do."

However, the jurors have sent out no written questions or notes indicating a problem in their deliberations. They did send two written notes during the deliberations in the first phase of the trial.

Judge Steven Taylor has said the jurors will take as much time as they need.

"The length of your deliberations and your deliberation schedule is up to you," Taylor told the panel as the sequestered panel resumed deliberations Thursday morning.

If jurors can't reach a decision, Taylor will be required to sentence Nichols to life in prison.

Members of Nichols' family, including mother Joyce Wilt, sister Suzanne McDonnell and ex-wife Lana Padilla waited at the courthouse. Victims' relatives were at a nearby church.

Nichols was convicted in a federal trial in 1997 of conspiracy and the involuntary manslaughter of eight federal agents killed in the blast. A federal jury in Denver deliberated for 13½ hours over two days before deadlocking over whether Nichols should be given a death sentence or a life term.

U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch then sentenced Nichols to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The state trial is for the others who were killed, including one victim's fetus. Prosecutors brought the state case specifically to seek the death sentence.