First man to die as a federal criminal since 1976

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McVeigh swallowed hard, his eyes moved from side to side

US executes its Public Enemy No1

Last lines from bard of colonies, but he was no bigot

'It was tough to watch him die, but I had to do it'

The execution of Timothy McVeigh was an unusual event, not just because he was the first prisoner to be executed under federal law since 1963. Those executed in America are disproportionately black, Southern and poor. McVeigh was none of these: he was white, from Buffalo, New York, and from a family that was modest, but certainly not dirt-poor.

He also claimed a political motive, his hatred of the federal government; for nearly all murderers the motive is personal, not ideological.

He was prosecuted under federal law for the scale of his crime, and because he attacked a federal building. While 716 people have been executed under state laws since the death penalty was restored in 1976, McVeigh is the only one to die under federal law in that time.

New York state was the latest to restore the death penalty, bringing the total of US states that execute their criminals to 38. Texas is far out in front in the number of executions, partly thanks to George Bush. In his six years as Governor of Texas, he sent 152 people to their death.

The Governor of Illinois declared a moratorium on the death penalty last year. Another six states may follow suit, now DNA testing has enabled some prisoners to overturn their conviction many years later. In all, more than 90 prisoners have been released from Death Row since 1973.

America now finds itself alone with Japan as a developed industrial state that executes felons, and in the dubious company of China, Saudi Arabia and Iran at the top of the league of executions. Last year, according to Amnesty International, China executed 1,000 people; Saudi Arabia, 123; America, 85; and Iran, 75. These four accounted for almost 90 per cent of the world's executions.

While American opinion is still solidly behind the principle of the death penalty, DNA testing has led to a shift in sentiment against it. According to the Pew Research Centre, two-thirds of Americans support execution, down from 80 per cent in 1994. Concern appears to rise with the number of executions, and with cases involving juveniles and those with a low IQ. Only 14 of the death penalty states in America expressly ban executions in such cases.