McVeigh to seek stay of execution

Timothy McVeigh will seek a delay of his June 11 execution for the Oklahoma City bombing, his lawyer said today.

Robert Nigh said it was not easy for McVeigh to make the decision.

"He was prepared to die," Night said outside the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where McVeigh is imprisoned.

The lawyer said they would seek a delay of the execution and a hearing to investigate "fraud upon the court" by federal authorities.

"There are still critical documents about this investigation being withheld by the FBI," lawyer Richard Burr said. "We must get to the bottom of this. This proceeding is intended to do that."

Another McVeigh lawyer, Nathan Chambers, remained in Denver to file the documents seeking the delay.

McVeigh's execution, initially set for May 16, was postponed by Attorney General John Ashcroft after the US Justice Department turned over more than 4,000 FBI documents it admits should have been given to McVeigh's lawyers for his trial.

McVeigh faces a lethal injection for the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others. He had been scheduled to be the first federal prisoner to be executed in 38 years.