Terry Nichols
Overview
Terry Lynn Nichols (b. 1955) was convicted, in both federal and Oklahoma state court, of helping plan and build the bomb used in the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Unlike Timothy McVeigh, Nichols was not present in Oklahoma City on the day of the bombing.
Role in the bombing
Nichols was indicted alongside McVeigh in August 1995 on the same 11 federal counts arising from the bombing. The Department of Justice's account of the case describes Nichols as having helped acquire and mix bomb-making materials and helped assemble the explosive device with McVeigh in the weeks before the attack.
Federal trial and conviction
On December 23, 1997, a federal jury found Nichols guilty of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers, while acquitting him of first-degree murder and use of a weapon of mass destruction. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Oklahoma state trial and conviction
Because the federal case covered only the deaths of federal officers, Oklahoma separately prosecuted Nichols in state court for the deaths of the remaining victims. On May 24, 2004, an Oklahoma County jury (the trial was moved to McAlester, Oklahoma) found Nichols guilty on 161 counts of first-degree murder -- covering the remaining victims and one victim's unborn child -- along with first-degree arson and conspiracy, according to NBC News/Associated Press reporting. The jury could not unanimously agree on a death sentence, so on August 9, 2004, District Judge Steven Taylor sentenced Nichols to 161 consecutive terms of life in prison without parole, per Deseret News reporting.