The Waco Years (Yawn)

DENVER: The 21st witness to plead for McVeighs life came from an unsurprising source: Soldier of Fortune magazine. According to shoot-em-up writer James Pate, McVeigh's writings were full of the usual militia phrases like "power hungry storm troopers." By the time of the Waco affair, Pate said, McVeighs writing was that of a passionate and proactive member of the militia fringe. The defense's Waco tack ironically echoes what the prosecution successfully argued in the trial's first phase: McVeigh did it because he was outraged by the slaughter at Waco. Jurors appeared bored and distracted as Pate testified, often squirming in their chairs and looking at the courtroom clock. The defense is expected to close this evening with an emotional finale: a flickering home movie of McVeigh, bathed in the innocence of youth, narrated by his father.