The Oklahoma Bomber

This film re-tells the horrific story of the worst domestic terrorist attack in American history - the Oklahoma City bombing.

This horrific attack killed 168 people and injured 500 more. Timothy McVeigh was found guilty, and as he waits to die by lethal injection (date set for 16th May 2001), the arguments rage on - some cannot feel peace until McVeigh pays the ultimate price, while others believe his 'state-assisted suicide' will make him a martyr for right-wing extremism.

It was the worst domestic terrorist attack in US history, rocking America and shocking the world. On 11 June Timothy McVeigh, found guilty of planting the bomb in downtown Oklahoma six years ago which killed 168 people and injured more than 600, is due to be executed by lethal injection. McVeigh's execution was moved from 16 May to give his legal team time to review new documents that the FBI did not make available until just days before he was scheduled to die.

The Oklahoma Bomber, a major documentary by awardwinning producer and director Neil Grant, tells the compelling story of a city ripped apart, using the powerful testimonies of McVeigh's victims, friends and lawyers. Presenter Donal MacIntyre introduces the film from Oklahoma City, where relatives of the dead have been waiting, wondering whether the execution will be delayed yet again.

The families of those who died in the explosion are devastated. Homes have been transformed into memorial shrines. Many, such as Janine Coverdale, grandmother of two boys who died in the blast, live for McVeigh's death: "I want to see him die. I don't know how I'm going to feel afterwards but I want to see him die. I want to make sure that Tim is dead."

Others disagree. One more death won't bring their loved ones back. For Bud Welch, who lost his daughter in the bombing: "I don't want to see another father lose a child and that's what we are going to do when we kill him."

McVeigh has shown no remorse and regards the children among his victims as "collateral damage". Moreover, he previously referred to his fate as "state-assisted suicide" and his "greatest moment".

Meanwhile, McVeigh's friends and family stick by him with unwavering love, while attempting to confront the reality of his guilt. Close friend and neighbour Mollie McDermot says: "To me, Tim's my big brother and he'll always be that. Just because a big brother does something that is wrong doesn't make him any less someone I love."

McVeigh's former lead defence lawyer, Stephen Jones, breaks client/lawyer confidentiality for the BBC and speaks about defending a man who he knew was guilty and reveals what it was like to defend "the most-hated man in America". Jones lost the original case. One of his successors, defence attorney Dick Burr, believes McVeigh's death "... will be a compounding of the tragedy of this ... it will create more victims among the people who love him...".

As America makes a second attempt to close the book on an atrocity that has torn apart its heartland, The Oklahoma Bomber asks whether Oklahoma City's wounds will ever heal.