 |
| Bud Welch. Photo courtesy Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. |
Currently Nebraska has
no means to carry out an execution because state officials have not replaced
their supply of one of three drugs needed for lethal injection.
Bud Welch, whose
daughter was killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, would say that’s good
news.
The 74-year-old travels
around the country to speak out about against the death penalty. He was in
Nebraska last fall giving presentations about forgiveness and abolishing the
death penalty, and he spoke with me over the phone a few days before his Omaha
presentation.
“That
year was just awful,” Bud said, referring to the year his 23-year-old daughter
Julie was killed in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City.
In the
months after Julie’s death, Bud said he went from supporting the death penalty
for Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who were found guilty of the terrorist
attack, to taking a public stand against it.
“I was
full of retribution at first to the point that I didn’t even want to have a
trial. I just wanted them fried.”
Eventually
he forgave the two men, and even met and developed a friendship with the family
of McVeigh, who was executed in 2001 for his part in the bombing.
Test of faith
The day of the attack,
Bud and his youngest son were at home about eight miles away from the federal
building when they heard and felt the explosion. About 15 minutes later they
learned it was the building in which Julie worked – and eventually were told
Julie was dead.
Julie had been working
at the federal building as a Spanish translator for the social security administration
in Oklahoma City for eight months when the bombing happened. Strong in her
faith and a graduate of Catholic school, she often went to week-day Mass and
invited her dad to go with her.
“Julie
was very devout and at that time I didn’t go to Mass all that often. She didn’t
hammer me on that, she’d call me and invite me to Mass and usually I would go
with her,” said Bud, who is divorced from Julie’s mother.
After her
death, Bud said he started drinking and smoking heavily and was trying to
self-medicate.
“Most of that first
month is a blur,” Bud said.
While he practiced his
faith, Bud, a member of St. Therese of the Little Flower Parish in Oklahoma
City, said he still struggled with feeling of anger after Julie was killed.
“I spent
a period of time after her death angry at God because, in my opinion, he let
this happen,” Bud said. “And then I was angry at myself because I always
encouraged Julie to pursue foreign languages.”
His healing
process took almost five years, he said. By then, he reached a point where he
could forgive McVeigh and Nichols.
“When you
forgive, it’s not an event, it’s a process,” he said. “Forgiveness is not doing
a thing for the people who killed your child. You’re only doing something for
yourself. When you’re finally able to forgive, it’s you that gets released; not
the other people.”
Bud said
so many years later, he enjoys talking to others about his experience because
it brings comfort to others who have been through similar situations. He now
speaks out publicly against the death penalty and has helped many other victims
of violence find forgiveness and reconciliation.
Stacy
Anderson, executive director of Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty, said it was a privilege to have Bud speak at the organization’s annual
reception and silent auction last September.
“We were
privileged to hear Bud recount his journey from tragedy and anger to
forgiveness and healing,” she said. “His personal story caused many to
reconsider whether the death penalty was the best we could do for victims’
families in the wake of violence and loss.”
Blogged by Lisa Maxson, senior writer/reporter.
