Wednesday August 8 11:51 AM ET

Oklahoma Bombing Trial Judge Seriously Ill

DENVER (Reuters) - U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, who presided over the two Oklahoma City bombing trials, is in a Denver hospital and will need a liver transplant, a court spokesman said on Wednesday.

``I can confirm that it's a progressive disease,'' said spokesman James Manspeaker.

Matsch, 71, conducted the 1997 trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for the April 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people.

Matsch was admitted to the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver on Sunday because he had a severe infection caused by a liver disorder that eventually will require a transplant, according to a published report quoting the judge's doctor.

He may be released within a few days, Dr. Gregory Everson said.

``His spirits are excellent,'' Manspeaker said. ``We've sent him a packet (of case work).''

Matsch was appointed in 1974 by then-President Richard Nixon. He has overseen several high-profile cases including court-ordered desegregation of Denver's public schools.

McVeigh was executed on June 11 for committing the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

Nichols was convicted in 1997 on federal charges of conspiracy and manslaughter for helping McVeigh prepare the truck bomb that gutted the Alfred P. Murrah building.

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