Lawyers for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh asked a federal appeals court today to stop his execution because the FBI held back evidence that someone else could have masterminded the bombing.
McVeigh's attorneys, who were racing the clock against his scheduled execution on Monday, also named for the first time two men they suspect of involvement in the April 19th, 1995, bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 men, women and children and injured 500 other people.
"There was ... evidence, withheld by the government, that another person could well have been the mastermind behind the bombing," McVeigh's attorneys, Mr Christopher Tritico and Mr Nathan Chambers, wrote in their 17-page brief, citing two exhibits that were filed under seal.
The attorneys said evidence that someone else had masterminded the attack and others had participated could have made a critical difference to the jury that decided in 1997 that McVeigh should die instead of serving a life prison term.
Mr Tritico and Mr Chambers filed their petition on McVeigh's behalf with a three-judge panel of the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has promised to act quickly on the matter.