Defense attorney for Oklahoma City bomber dead at 57

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Rob Nigh, a defense attorney who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and witnessed his 2001 execution, has died after battling cancer. He was 57.

Stephen Jones, McVeigh’s lead defense attorney, said Nigh died on Sunday, months after stepping down as Tulsa County’s chief public defender for serious health issues.

Known for his encyclopedic legal knowledge, work ethic and intense preparation on every case he handled, Nigh also defended those accused of committing some of the state’s most egregious crimes.

Nigh defended two men who randomly killed three black residents in Tulsa in 2012; one of two then-teenage brothers accused of killing five family members in their home in 2015; and a man accused of fatally shooting his Lebanese neighbor in 2016 because of his race.