This is a great question, and a difficult one to answer. Truthfully, do I think he deserved to die? Yes. But I do think the state should have executed him? No. And I don’t see any contradiction there. Asking what kind of punishment a person deserves is different from asking what kind of punishment they should be given. I don’t believe the government should be granted the power to determine whether one of its own citizens deserves to die. Additionally, the only way to ensure that we never execute another innocent person is to abolish the death penalty altogether. So while I absolutely do sympathize with people who believe the state was right to execute McVeigh, I must respectfully disagree with their conclusion.