North Florida Man To Witness McVeigh Execution

Brown's Father-In-Law Killed In Oklahoma

A north Florida man will be one of a select few to watch Timothy McVeigh's execution in person. Next Wednesday, McVeigh is scheduled to be the first federal inmate executed in 38 years. He was sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing. Federal officials have kept the list of witnesses secret, but NewsChannel 2's Stephen Stock talked to one of them. In a few days, 37-year-old Ronald Brown will leave tiny Keystone Heights and join nine other people at McVeigh's execution in Terre Haute, Ind. "I've been picked to do a job," Brown said. His job is to be one of the justice department's 10 official witnesses. The names of the witnesses were randomly drawn.

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Brown's father-in-law, Bob Westberry, was at work on the third floor of the Alfred Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City when the explosion leveled the building. Westberry's body was found beneath the tons of rubble. "I don't understand why somebody can do what he did, and not have any type of remorse," Brown said. Brown expects that the execution procedure will be routine, but he also knows that McVeigh might use his last words to inflict more pain. "That's his right, to have his last words and then he'll lay down and he'll be out of this world," Brown said. "To be honest with you, it will probably anger me. I mean, I'm human. I'm afraid he'll spend eternity in Hell." However, that eternity is exactly what bothers Brown the most. Unlike some of other families of victims, Brown's deep Christian faith has taken him through his pain, bitterness and anger to forgiveness. "I would share God with him if I had that opportunity. I'm not in love with the man, but I don't hate him," Brown said. Westberry grew up in Daytona Beach and was a highway patrol trooper before he joined the federal defense investigative service. Brown's son, Glenn, lives in Casselberry and will accompany him to Indiana. Westberry's widow, Tillie, also lives in Keystone Heights but won't witness the execution. Related Story FBI Didn't Share McVeigh Evidence