Timothy Mcveigh

Timothy McVeigh

Background:

Born in Pendleton, New York on April 23, 1968
Middle of 3 children, only boy
Parents separated for a third and final time in 1984.
Known as the small, thin and quiet kid in school.
Participated in Football, track, and other extra-curricular activities.
Graduated from high school in 1986, entered a two-year business college. Only attended for a short time. While he attended, he lived at home with his father and worked at a Burger King.
McVeigh enlisted in the Army in Buffalo in May 1988
He aspired to be a member of the Special Forces and in 1990 was accepted into a 3-week school to assess his potential for joining that elite unit
Pursuing his desire of joining the Special Forces, he left the Persian Gulf Theater early and went to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he took a battery of IQ, personality and aptitude tests to qualify for Special Forces. However, his participation in the Persian Gulf War had left him no time to prepare himself physically for the demands of Special Forces training. McVeigh was unable to endure a 90-minute march with a 45-pound pack, and he withdrew from the program after two days.

Crime Accused of Committing:

Bombing of the Alfred P Murrah US government building in Oklahoma City in 1995

Evidence:

He rented the truck that was linked to the bombing. The police found residue of the bomb materials on McVeigh’s shirt and jeans when he was arrested. A fingerprint expert for the agency identified two of McVeigh’s fingerprints on the receipt for a ton of ammonium nitrate prosecutors said was used to make the bomb.

Sentence:

Sentenced to death
Died by lethal injection in 2001

Theory that explains his deviant behavior:

Differential Association Theory because he acquired his criminalistics behavior from the militias he associated himself with. His values were influenced by the leaders and his friends in the militia Randy Weaver and Terry Nichols. Since his values were impacted by these individuals, he strongly supported their beliefs and engaged in criminal activity. These behaviors were learned over an extended period of time. Once Weaver was killed by the police, McVeigh committed the crime of bombing the Oklahoma building.

McVeigh learned these behaviors because he associated himself with these individuals instead of his parents. His parents didn’t have time to control him. So he spent most of his time in these militias. For this extended period of time, these views became terrorist views against the government.

Deterrence or Rehabilitation?

I believe Timothy McVeigh should not be rehabilitated because he committed a serious crime. He killed 168 people. He had evil intentions. He knew what he was doing and still bombed the building. I believe that Timothy McVeigh should not be rehabilitated.