The Oklahoma bombing: 15 years onDocumentary offers new insights into McVeigh's path to terrorism

Fifteen years after the Oklahoma City bombing, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow will be hosting a commemorative show tonight that brings viewers the inside story on the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil prior to the events of 9/11. The bombing killed 168 people and injured more than 500.

MSNBC says viewers will hear Timothy McVeigh’s chilling confession in his own words for the first time. The documentary, “The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist,” draws on forty-five hours of never-before-released interview audiotapes recorded during McVeigh’s prison stay. The film reveals the bomber’s descriptions of the planning and execution of the horrific attack and offers insight into how a decorated American soldier became a dangerous, anti-government terrorist.

The network says that the two-hour documentary employs state-of-the-art computer recreations of the interview with McVeigh and his actions on and leading up to the day of the bombing. It also provides biographical background of McVeigh’s life and the path that led to his transformation into an American terrorist. In addition, survivors and family members of the bombing victims are given a voice in the film, bravely stepping forward to offer the final word on the true impact and meaning of McVeigh’s attack.

The audiotapes acquired for the film were originally recorded as research for the book American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing, by Buffalo News reporters Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, who are interviewed in the film. Excerpts from the audiotapes will be released in the coming weeks.

“The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist,” is co-produced by Msnbc and Peacock Productions.