DENVER (AP) — The no-nonsense federal judge who gained national respect overseeing the Oklahoma City bombing trials has died. The clerk of Colorado’s federal court, Jeffrey Colwell, says U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch died on Sunday. He was 88. Matsch was known for cowboy hat and his short temper with courtroom antics. As chief judge of the federal court in Denver, Matsch oversaw the 1996 trials that led to the convictions of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols after a judge ruled that neither could receive a fair trial in Oklahoma City.

Matsch imposed a gag order to prevent attorneys from trying their case outside the courthouse. He received a liver transplant in 2001 after being diagnosed with a disorder that causes a buildup of fluid that can lead to infections. Born in Burlington, Iowa, Matsch graduated from the University of Michigan Law School, served as a federal prosecutor and became a bankruptcy judge. His role model was the fictional lawyer Atticus Finch, hero of Harper Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” who saw it as his duty to do the right thing even though it might be unpopular.