Terry Nichols

Terry Nichols (born April 1, 1955) is accused of being the accomplice of Timothy McVeigh, an American terrorist in the Oklahoma City bombing (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, April 19, 1995).

Federal charges

Nichols was convicted in federal court on December 23, 1997. After first voting 10-2 for acquittal, the jury deliberated 42 hours before returning a guilty verdict on a charge of conspiring to bomb a federal building (the federal crime of using a weapon of mass destruction) and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officers. Nichols' defense relied heavily on evidence that others had conspired to bomb the building, but Nichols has never publicly implicated any other suspects based on his own knowledge of the bombing. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on June 4, 1998.

Related Topics:
December 23 - 1997 - Acquittal - Weapon of mass destruction - June 4 - 1998

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A third alleged accomplice and affiliate of McVeigh and Nichols, Michael Fortier, testified against the two during federal trials. Fortier entered a federal plea agreement on charges he failed to notify authorities of the crime. Fortier said he helped the pair survey the building in anticipation of the attack. He helped prosecutors piece together a theory of the crime in which Nichols' and McVeigh purchased fertilizer to use in an improvised explosive device. A receipt for fertilizer was found in a drawer during a search of Nichols' Kansas residence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most accounts say that Nichols stayed home during the Oklahoma City Bombing. His neighbors reported he was spreading fertilizer on the lawn of his Herington, Kansas home the morning of the explosion. After McVeigh was arrested, Nichols drove to a local police station, where he was interviewed and eventually held in connection with the bombing. Nichols and McVeigh had been assigned together to the 1st Infantry Division, then headquartered at nearby Fort Riley, Kansas. Herington is located a few miles south of Geary State Lake, where prosecutors allege McVeigh assembled the bomb.

Related Topics:
Herington - Kansas - 1st Infantry Division - Fort Riley - Geary State Lake

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prosecutors focused on a trip back from Oklahoma City a few days before the attack in which Nichols drove from Kansas to Oklahoma to retrieve McVeigh. Prosecutors said that was when McVeigh parked a yellow Mercury Marquis in an alley near the Murrah Building. McVeigh was driving the yellow Mercury when he was arrested an hour after the bombing. Nichols claimed he picked up his friend McVeigh from Oklahoma City on the promise of getting a television set.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

McVeigh had been a guest of Nichols home in the months before the bombing, and had visited Nichols and his brother James Nichols at his farm in Michigan. Investigators combed the Decker, Michigan farm, and held James Nichols and his teenage son, but later released them without filing charges.

Related Topics:
Michigan - James Nichols

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1995, Nichols resided in Herington with his wife Marife Torres and infant child. The couple have since divorced and his former wife has returned to the Philippines. Nichols made several trips to the Philippines in the months before the bombing.

Related Topics:
1995 - Marife Torres - Philippines

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~