up next on a second look, he set off a terrorist bomb that killed 168 people. but how did the family members and victims feel about timothy mcvay's institution. he was called the freeway killer what one surviving victim said after william bonan was put to death in san quentin. plus a lynching in san jose. what led a mob to take action.

this is a second look. tonight the nation continues to wonder about the fate of dzhokhar tsarnaev. while massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty the federal law does. he could face execution. that was the case for other domestic terrorism defendants timothy mcfay. the man who carried out the bombing in oklahoma city back in 1995. that attack left 168 people dead, many of them children. as ktvu's randy shandobil reported, as mcvay was put to death, the families of the victims watched as he was executed. >> reporter: government officials led oklahoma city bomber timothy mcvay into the execution chamber. prison officials say he was

quiet and cooperative. even seating him on the gurney, positions body so that officials could strap him down then inject him. >> timothy mcvay has been executed by lethal injection. he was pronounced dead on april 17. >> reporter: 24 people respecting mcvay, the media and the victim's fathers -- victim's families and media witnessed it firsthand. >> reporter: instead of saying anything, mcvay had officials distribute a handwritten copy of a defiant poem written in 1875 called invictus.

it ends, i am the author of my fate, i am the captain of my soul. >> he took the time to look up and look at each of us in the eye and there was almost a sense of pride as he nodded his head. layed back down and seemed very resigned to his fate. >> his lips relaxed, his eyes relaxed. he looked toward the ceiling where there happened to be a camera staring right at oklahoma city. at that point, his eyes seemed to roll back only slightly. >> reporter: that feeling mounted camera beamed closed circuit images of the execution 600 miles away so that 272 oklahoma city survivors and family members could see it. some family members chose not to witness the execution, they gathered at the memorial at the 168th bronze chairs there one for each victim. >> this man clearly deserved

what he got. he died peacefully which i cannot say my family members did. >> i thought i would feel something for satisfying but i don't. >> it was too easy for him. it was too easy. he just layed there. they told him to inject the medication. and he looked directly up at the camera and a dead stare at all of us. >> when they opened up the curtain there he layed. so peacefully and so quiet and my son lying, and dying for 13 days. how can i say it. i'm glad it's over. sorry he didn't suffer more. >> he didn't need to make a statement. i truly believe that his eyes were telling me, he had a look of defiance. if he could he would do it all over again. >> reporter: there were questions about the notion of closure. >> do you feel better today? >> not that much. because we can't bring back the

lives that were lost. >> i know some people didn't get closure. didn't get anything from this. i got a lot from it. timothy mcvay, he's done. >> reporter: after witnessing the execution, mcvay's attorneys argued against the death penalty. >> if there is anything good that can come from the execution of tim mcvay it may be to help us realize sooner that we simply cannot do this anymore. i am firmly convinced that it is not a question of if we will stop it is a question of when. >> reporter: president brush said today that timothy mcvay chose his own fate and said that his execution brought justice. >> may god and his mercy grant peace to all. to the lives that were taken six years ago, to the lives that go on. and to the life that ended

today. >> late today, mcvay's body was cremated. his ashes turned over to his attorney who will distribute them in an undisclosed location. one victim's mother worried that americans might forget the victims and because of all the publicity remembered mcvay. but another victim's mother said quote, he is gone. he could never call our children collateral damage again. still to come on a second look, a killer is scheduled to die in california's death chamber. how one of his surviving victims felt in the days leading up to his execution. and a bit later, they were accused of kidnapping the son of a well known family from san jose. but a mob made sure they never made it to trial.

tonight on a second look the death penalty and how it affects the surviving victims.

the state of california executed william vonan the man known as the freeway killer. authorities believed that he sexually assaulted and killed at least 21 boys. three days before vonan's execution, randy shandobil talked to a victim who survived and planned to attend that execution. >> reporter: it's been 121 years but david mcvickers says he still has horrible dreams of him. the man who raped him and almost killed him. >> every night when i go to sleep i get raped. >> reporter: it was summer 1975 a then 14-year-old david mcvicker was in front of this orange county mcdonalds hitchhiking home. >> the man looked like a really nice guy. he asked me for directions. >> reporter: that man william vonan offered mcvicker a ride.

vonan had recently gotten out of prison after serving six years for raping five boys. >> i wanted out of the car. >> reporter: after vonan made shrewd suggestions to mcvicker the young boy urged mcvonan to let him out. >> i started opening the door because he wasn't pulling over. i was just going to jump with the car moving. and when i turned back to look i was going to push myself out. he had a gun right here. and i just pictured myself getting hot, landing on the street and him driving off. he sat shut up, sit there and don't move. >> reporter: until vonan pulled off the freeway. >> he told me to take my clothes off. i said something like god help. he stopped, he played himself for a while, threw the t-shirt

and drove off. vonan let mcvicker go but taunted mcvicker by following him. later mcvicker led police to the rag and that's how he was caught. after being sentenced for the rape and then released just 2- 1/2 years later, william vonan kept that promise, kept the promise at least 14 times. starting in 1979 boy after boy after boy picked up near freeways, raped then strangled or stabbed to death. nude bodied found off the freeway. at that time mcvicker didn't

know vonan had been paroled. >> all of a sudden i started reading the newspaper and reading about these kid that had been murdered. it all sounded too familiar. it sounded like the same guy. i kept thinking it can't be him he's in jail. >> reporter: eventually mcvicker did tip police, a tip that led to vonan's arrest. >> i am very upset with our system. something has to be done to change. how many times must a pedophile get a chance. >> reporter: while william vonan has been living in san quentin, victim family members have been dying from strokes, alcoholism and suicide. mcvick er is coming to san

quentin to witness the execution. he's been saving a special bottle of champane for after the execution. >> there's no way we will ever forget it. but this is just to symbolize helping turn the page. >> what are you hoping happens when you see him die? >> i'm hoping that it changes my dreams. i'm hoping that at night when i go to sleep instead of him raping me and stabbing me and doing all these terrible things to me, i'll be able to turn it around, stand over that thing and know that he's dead. >> reporter: did david mcvick er find the relief he was hoping for after the execution. david talks to mcvicker about whether vonan's death changed anything for him. and later on, a lynching in san jose. the case that led a mob to take

the law into their own hands.

tonight on a second look we talk to family members of murdered victims about the execution of the men convicted of killing their loved ones. the state of california executed william vonan the man known as the freeway killer. randy shandobil talked to two people, the mother of one of his victims and a man who survived vonan's sexual assault and attempt to strangle him. >> reporter: as she has countless times before, sandy miller visited her murdered son's grave this week. as she has countless times before, she wiped dirt from rusty stone and left him flowers. >> that's for you baby. >> reporter: but unlike previous visits on this day sandy miller was not filled with hate. >> oh yes, i think i'm in much better shape today than i was a year ago. >> reporter: in much better shape she says because a year ago she watched as san quentin officials killed her son's

killer william vonan. vonan was the so called freeway killer. he would pick up boys as young as 12 years old. boys waiting for school buses, boys hitchhiking home. and then rape, torture and murder the boys. strangle or stab them. kick their feud bodies out of his van as he cruised southern california highways. in 1979 and 1980 vonan did this at least 18 times. >> i was very emotional. i know i was crying, i know i was having a hard time standing up. everything inside of me came out. >> reporter: david mcvicker also witnessed david vanan's execution because he was one of the few victims who survived being strangled and raped by vonan. mcvicker told us he was suicidal. that he had horrendous dreams

almost every night about vonan. >> what are you hoping happens when you see him die? >> i'm hoping that it changes my dreams. i'm hoping that at night when i go to sleep instead of him raping me and stabbing me and doing all these terrible things to me that i'll be able to turn it around and stand over him and look at that thing and know he's dead. >> reporter: did you ever wonder gee do i really want to watch someone die, everyone if it's him. >> of course, i'm not a murderer. i have no desire to see a human being go down. but again, i just have to keep telling myself. i had to change my dreams and i also, had to keep telling myself that he wasn't a person he's a monster. i don't know how to explain closure. it's like every bad feeling. everything that i ever dreamt, all the bad things that happened to me it all just came out. that was it. >> reporter: so all your nightmares about being raped -- >> gone. gone. it completely worked. >> reporter: william vonan was the first person in california to be executed by lethal

injection. a theoretically more human way to kill than the gas chamber. but sandy miller told us she thought lethal injection was too humane. she told us that last year just before witnessing vonan's execution. back then as she read us an angry letter she wrote to vonan sandy miller said she raged with so much hate she thought nothing could ever quell it. >> your life is about over. ps, may your burn in hell. >> ironicically miller's son rusty was against the death penalty. >> i was so full of hate and anger and i would say rusty you must forgive me because i want to kill this guy myself. you know. even at the execution i asked the warden, i said now that he's gone can i get the body and kill him again to get rid of this rage. that's how angry i was then. and now i can sit here and i can talk to my son and say, rusty maybe you were right. >> reporter: miller is now

conflicted about the death penalty. now she says she would agree with her son but only if there were an absolute guarantee that people like william vonan would be behind bars for life. on the other hand she says, watching vonan's execution was almost like a miracle cure. >> i've done a lot of healing by it. i've learned to forgive. >> reporter: last year miller told us her nightmare that god might forgive the freeway killer. that william vonan might not burn in hell after all. but along with her son rusty go to heaven instead. >> as forgiving and loving as my son was, i would not be surprised if they went to heaven and my son forgave him and are now friends. that's how forgiving my son

was. >> reporter: in this case for david mcvicker and sandy miller they say they've finally found peace. the day a mob took the law into its own hands and lynched two kidnapping suspects in san jose. look at 'em.

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over the centuries our criminal justice system has developed as a way to replace personal revenge. but sometimes people still decide to short circuit the process and take the law into their own hands. such with the case in san jose nearly 80 years ago when a mob numbering in the thousands decided to avenge the death of a young man who had been kidnappedded and murdered. in 2001, ktvu's george watson recounted the story of the san

jose lynching. >> reporter: camelot to the regions silicon valley. it is not conceivable that a public lynching could take place here today. 67 years ago one did. nestled in the downtown area was hart's department store a fixture since the 1860s. by 1933 young brook heart 22 years old and just graduated from the university of santa clara was poised to take over the store from his father alex. minutes before closing time on november 9, 1933, brook hart left the department store and walked the short distance to his car. his kidnappers would be the last people to see him alive. >> this is the great gangster era of the 30s, and the great terrorist crime of fashion in those days was kidnapping for

ransom. >> described by those who knew him as slow witted. he became friends with another local man, a motor oil sales man. together they would plan and play out the kidnapping of hart. >> they murdered him immediately and then asked for the money. >> reporter: the men waited for hart to leave the department store. using another car they drove to the san mateo bridge about a half mile out over the water. they tied weights around hart, clubbed him into unconsciousness and threw his body into the water. howward thurmon then emptied the pistol firing into where hart hit the water. almost immediately, they began bombarding the hart family. calling the mother and father

at home, writing them notes demanding $20,000 for their son's safe return. the two responded sending for proof that they had hart. the couple responded with a couple of phone calls that police were eventually able to trace. five days after the kidnapping, they arrested harold thurmon in a phone booth. >> early in the morning he finally broke down and confessed. then implicated his partner holmes and he confessed too. >> the two suspects were being held in the jail behind the city's courthouse. 17 days after the kidnapping two duck hunters discovered the badly decomposed body of brook hart floating in the bay. world went out in the radio. the crowd began to gather at the courthouse. but early evening the crowd numbering in the thousands had become a lunch mob.

>> this was basically a crowd of, of curiosity seekers and thrill seekers. the actual lynch mob was probably no more than 100, 150 people. >> reporter: william ameg told his deputies they could only defend the jail with tear gas, no bullets. the overwhelming crowd simply threw the tear gas back at the defenders. a group of vigilantes broke off and went back to the courthouse. they found a large pole and took it around the courthouse into the jail where they knocked down the pole. they overpowered two of the guards. then they brought them here to st. james park. they hung thurmon first then holmes on two separate trees. it took each men several

minutes to strangle and hung. >> their bodied hung there for several minutes before the coroner came out and chopped them down. >> reporter: police would arrive too late. police and fire department said they could not help. rob refused to request to send in the national guard. roth offered pardon to anyone charged with the lynching deaths. and that's it for this week's second look. i'm frank somerville. we'll see you again next week. s there's an entire land here...with living cars.

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