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McVeigh's attorney: 'I'm extremely disappointed'

Nigh: "Having nothing to look forward to but solitary confinement in a federal prison does not appeal to Mr. McVeigh."

(CNN) -- An attorney for Timothy McVeigh said he was "extremely disappointed" that the convicted Oklahoma City bomber did not ask President George W. Bush for clemency.

In a news conference Friday, Robert Nigh Jr. said that McVeigh had the clemency papers with him in his cell when the deadline passed at midnight Thursday.

Nigh said that McVeigh had said in the past he would not ask for clemency, but his legal team asked him not to make a final decision until they had discussed the case with him.

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Nigh said he believed that one of the reasons that McVeigh did not ask for clemency is that he felt the chance of success was "exceedingly small or non-existent." Nigh said that McVeigh felt he would not be in a better position, even if relief was granted.

"Having nothing to look forward to but solitary confinement in a Bureau of Prisons facility does not appeal to Mr. McVeigh," Nigh said.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons scheduled his execution for May 16, but McVeigh had a month to decide whether to appeal for clemency from Bush.

In December, McVeigh asked U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, who presided over his 1997 trial and sentenced him to death, to waive all further appeals in the case.

McVeigh would be the first person executed by the federal government since 1963. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection.

The Gulf War veteran was convicted of murder and other charges in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. It was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil, killing 168 people and injuring more than 500.

More that 250 victims and family members have asked to witness the execution, and prison officials are considering setting up a closed-circuit broadcast for them.

Nigh, who has represented McVeigh since 1995, said he also will attend the execution.

McVeigh, who is on death row at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, wrote in a letter published in the Sunday Oklahoman that his execution should be broadcast publicly.

CNN Correspondent Susan Candiotti and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Timothy McVeigh clemency deadline Thursday
February 12, 2001
McVeigh scheduled to die by lethal injection May 16
January 16, 2001
Judge says McVeigh can drop appeals
December 28, 2000
Roger Cossack on McVeigh request to end death penalty appeals
December 28, 2000
Oklahoma City bombing victims remembered, 5 years later
April 19, 2000
McVeigh: Gulf War killings led him on path to disillusionment
March 13, 2000
Agent who led arrest of McVeigh tries to put human face on FBI
April 16, 1999
Grand jury finds McVeigh, Nichols acted alone in Oklahoma bombing
December 30, 1998
Oklahoma City bombing trial
March 1997
Timothy McVeigh and the death penalty
December 1996
McVeigh, Nichols plead not guilty in bombing
August 13, 1996

Federal Bureau of Investigation
U.S. Department of Justice
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Oklahoma State Government
Death Penalty Information Center
US Federal Bureau of Prisons

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