THE SMILE OF A KILLER

WILL MCVEIGH'S IMAGE CHANGE FROM ARCHVILLAIN TO MARTYR FOR THE MILITIA?

In the beginning, during the pretrial proceedings, Timothy McVeigh would try to greet Beth Wilkinson with a smile and a hello, a tactic he used with other people in court. Each time, however, she would shoot back a cold glare. The federal prosecutor would allow no attempts at cordiality to mitigate her mission: to convict McVeigh and get him sentenced to death. Last week, after his defense had presented parental pleas for mercy, Wilkinson's words thundered through the courtroom, demanding the life of the convicted Oklahoma City bomber. "All of us can feel compassion for his parents, but they do not...

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