[HungarianGypsy]

That's because he gave up on his appeals.

Weren't there other murderers who gave up on their appeals and their lawyers just did their appeals anyway?

[Moral Hazard]

"Weren't there other murderers who gave up on their appeals and their lawyers just did their appeals anyway?"

McVeigh is the only one I've heard of that's given up on his appeals at the federal level, though their have been some others convicted at the state level that have.

You're partly right on the point that their lawyers go on appealing anyway. Usually what happens is the defendant's lawyer appeals the defendant's decision to stop pursuing appeals based upon some form of mental incompetence (such as severe depression).

The result of this is usually a judge appoints a psychiatrist to examine the defendant, the psychiatrist declares him competent, and the appeal is dismissed. There may be exceptions to this, but I'm not aware of any.