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The Defendant | The Defense | The Jury | The Prosecutor |The Judge
Nichols: Two disparate sides to be portrayed at trial
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(CNN) -- When the court convenes for the second Oklahoma City bombing trial, all eyes will be on the man who has until now remained in the shadow of Timothy McVeigh.
On the surface, Terry Nichols, 42, seems completely different from McVeigh. During the pre-trial hearings, McVeigh wore khakis and open-necked shirts, was animated and even jocular; Nichols favored blazers and turtlenecks, was reserved, courteous and quiet.
While McVeigh was an enigma to many, Nichols appears to have two disparate sides. Prosecutors will present witnesses who describe him as a quiet, brooding former soldier, an unhappy drifter who was unable to hold a steady job and grew disillusioned. His relatives paint another picture of Nichols -- that of an independent adventurer who is eager to embrace all kinds of careers and a devoted family man.
There will be plenty of testimony to support both sides when Nichols' trial begins in September in the same courtroom where McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to die. But in the end, which image of Terry Nichols will prevail with the jury?
Nichols' early years
Like McVeigh, Nichols' adolescence was far from idyllic. A Michigan native, Nichols grew up on a farm near Lapeer telling friends he would never be a farmer. One of four children, he dreamed of going to medical school. Just as he was graduating from high school in 1974, his parents divorced, and he found his grades weren't good enough for pre-med programs at most schools.
Like most of their neighbors, the Nichols children did farm chores at an early age, from picking rocks out of the fields to pitching manure, recalls his brother, James
Nichols enrolled at Central Michigan University, 100 miles from home, but left after one semester. His brother James speculated that Nichols may have found the program too structured.
"He's used to being out in the open, free to do," James Nichols told The Associated Press. "It wasn't like going to high school. This is only my opinion, but you're put in a dorm and you're restricted; it was almost like being in a prison."
The college stint was followed by a series of jobs. Nichols tried carpentry, sold insurance, worked part-time as a licensed financial counselor and did farm chores.
Marriage
In 1981, Nichols married Lana Walsh, a real estate broker in the Decker area of Michigan; their son, Joshua, was born a year later. With his wife's encouragement, he enlisted in the Army. It was May 1988, and he was 33; most other recruits were in their early 20s. At basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia, Nichols met McVeigh. Later, McVeigh and Nichols were assigned to Fort Riley, Kansas.
But then, Nichols' marriage broke up. About the same time, he lost his post as a platoon leader in a disagreement with a sergeant. He got a hardship discharge after 11 months in the service when a child-care dispute with his ex-wife meant he had to care for their son.
Soon after, Nichols registered with a mail-order bride service in Cebu City, Philippines, and married Marife Torres. She was 17, less than half his age.
McVeigh, who stayed in the Army until December 1991, later became a frequent visitor to the Nichols' Decker farm, and eventually moved there. He and Nichols eventually went into business, selling military surplus at gun shows.
On April 19, 1993, the two were in Michigan, watching television, when government agents raided a Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, killing about 80 people.
Nichols' friends say that he had expressed some disillusionment with what he viewed as a tyrannical federal authority, even going to the extent of relinquishing his citizenship.
"I am stating that I no longer am a citizen of the corrupt political corporate state of Michigan and the Unites States of America ... I am a 'non-resident alien,'" he wrote.
But unlike McVeigh, Nichols apparently did not direct his hatred toward government employees. Presiding Judge Richard Matsch barred the use of some examples of Nichols' political views as evidence, saying many Americans share similar beliefs.
The state vs. Nichols
Prosecutors will seek to prove that McVeigh, incensed by the Waco attack, recruited Nichols. They contend that the father of three is just as culpable, and that he actively conspired with McVeigh to commit the bombing that killed 168 people, including 19 children.
Nichols, unlike McVeigh, will have an alibi for the morning when the 4,000-pound truck bomb devastated the Alfred P. Murrah building. Nichols was at home with his family in Kansas when the bomb went off. He went to the Herington Police Department two days later and asked why his name was broadcast on news reports about the bombing.
Prosecutors contend that Nichols, among other things, helped McVeigh plan the bombing, helped him buy and steal ingredients for the bomb and helped him hide the getaway car in Oklahoma City.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
T H E B O M B I N G / T H E P L A Y E R S / C N N S T O R I E S / L I N K S
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