Prior to the bombing Welch did not believe in the death penalty. He never had, nor had his parents or his grandparents. The vengeance and the rage that I had for Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols after they were arrested and charged was incredible. I wanted them fried. We hear it used in the legal system at times that someone was temporarily insane and, of course, most of us would scoff at the idea and say, well that s some slick attorney just trying to get them off.
Temporary insanity is real.
I know it. I ve lived it. I ve been there. Bud Welch says he struggled with his post-bombing support for the death penalty another eight or nine months. A smoker at the time of the federal building attack, Welch doubled his cigarette use to three packs a day and he started drinking.