Indiana state authorities have agreed to a request by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh that no autopsy be performed on his body after he is executed by lethal injection in May, according to documents filed yesterday in federal court.
McVeigh, found guilty for the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building that killed 168 people, is scheduled to be executed in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 16th.
However, he has religious, ethical and philosophical objections to an autopsy, court papers said, without further explanation.
Indiana law requires autopsies whenever a death is not natural but because of the unique circumstances both sides said in the court filing that they agreed to the arrangement to avoid unnecessary litigation.
The agreement between McVeigh and the coroner's office is subject to approval by US District Judge Richard Matsch, who presided over McVeigh's 1997 trial in Denver.McVeigh will consent to a physical examination before his execution and a non-invasive exam afterward, according to the agreement.
Last December, Judge Matsch granted McVeigh's request to end his appeals and have the federal Bureau of Prisons set an execution date.
McVeigh also decided not to ask for a presidential pardon, which would have been his last recourse to avoid execution.
McVeigh's execution will be the first for a federal prisoner in 38 years.