|
Terry Nichols (April 1st, 1955 - ) was Timothy McVeigh's accomplice in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He is currently serving a life sentence, and has since apologized for his involvement in the bombing plot.
Like McVeigh, Nichols held strong anti-government sentiments, which only grew stronger over the years. Nichols spent most of his adult life in the Lapeer and Sanilac County areas of Michigan where mistrust and resentment of the federal government was common, especially after bank repossessions of many farms in the 1980s. Neighbors said he attended meetings of anti-government groups, experimented with explosives and got more radical as time went on. In February 1992, he attempted to renounce his US citizenship by writing to the local county clerk in Michigan, stating that the political system was corrupt, and declaring himself a "non resident alien". Several months later, he appeared in court and tried to avoid responsibility for some of his credit card bills (he owed approximately $40,000 altogether), refusing to come before the bench, and shouting at the judge that the government had no jurisdiction over him. On October 19, 1992, he signed another document renouncing his US citizenship. In May 1993, Nichols appeared before a county judge regarding an $8,421 unpaid credit card debt. He also renounced his driver’s license.
Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevator manager, real estate salesman and ranch hand. He met his future co-conspirator, Timothy McVeigh, during a brief stint in the U.S. Army, which ended in 1989 when he requested a hardship discharge after less than one year of service.[5] In 1994 and 1995, he conspired with McVeigh in the planning and preparation of the Oklahoma City bombing – the truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 19, 1995. The bombing claimed the lives of 168 people, including 19 children.[6]
After a federal trial in 1997, Nichols was convicted of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter for killing federal law enforcement personnel.[7][8] He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole because the jury deadlocked on the death penalty.[6] He was also tried in Oklahoma on state charges of murder in connection with the bombing. He was convicted in 2004 of 161 counts of first degree murder, including one count of fetal homicide;[6] first-degree arson; and conspiracy.[9] As in the federal trial, the state jury deadlocked on imposing the death penalty.[6][10]
He was sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole,[3][6] and is incarcerated at ADX Florence, a super maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado. He shares a cell block that is commonly referred to as "Bombers Row" with Ramzi Yousef, Ted Kaczynski, and Eric Rudolph.