The discovery of some 200 pieces of FBI evidence related to the 1995 bombing of an Oklahoma City federal building could lead Timothy McVeigh's lawyers to ask for a delay in his execution, US media reported last night.
The US Justice Department has told lawyers for McVeigh that the FBI had withheld documents from his defence, court sources said. A Justice Department lawyer declined to comment, but according to legal sources the FBI informed the court it had found additional documents from the case.
It was not clear if the documents have just been found or were not turned over for some other reason.
Earlier, CBS News said lawyers for McVeigh were considering filing a request to halt his May 16th execution.
Sources say some of the evidence appears to be original FBI interviews done in the hours and days immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing, CBS said. The FBI had told the judge it did not know why the material was not handed over. CBS said McVeigh, who has waived his right to any more appeals against his execution for the killing of 168 people in the Oklahoma blast in 1995, had been informed of the development.