If you could put him (and every other person up for capital punishment) in a cell (with a toilet) given nothing but bread and water for sustenance (sp?), then I'd be for an alternative to the death penalty. As it is, I don't see how spending life in prison, being able to watch TV, eat normal meals, and exercise is a punishment fit for someone who took away the right to live from 168 people.
Give me (better yet, the families of the victims) an acceptable alternative for someone like McVeigh, if you can.
As for saying it's a deterrent, it's not in most cases. I don't see it as such here. I see it as saving tax payers $30,000 to $40,000 a year for however long he would have remained alive in prison. Call me barbaric if you will, it won't bother me at all.