Prosecutors give Nichols jurors 'cold, hard facts'

The jury listened to a full day of emotional testimony

In this story:

• Jurors hear grisly details
• 'That's when my life ended'

December 29, 1997
Web posted at: 10:13 p.m. EST (0313 GMT)

DENVER (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors return to court Tuesday to resume their efforts to convince jurors that Terry Nichols deserves the death penalty for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

As the penalty phase of the trial opened Monday, the jury heard from 12 witnesses, many of them still heartbroken and grieving for loved ones lost in the bombing.

The 42-year-old Nichols was convicted of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter last week. The jury is now deliberating whether he will be sentenced to death, life in prison or a lesser punishment.

The government hopes to convince the jury that Nichols should receive the same punishment as his Army buddy, Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted of the bombing in June and sentenced to death.

"It would be tempting for you to think of this as one mass murder," said prosecutor Pat Ryan. "Don't.

CNN's Tony Clark reports

"We present this evidence to you not to evoke your sympathy," he said. "These victims in Oklahoma City have had all the sympathy they can stand in the last 2 1/2 years. We present this evidence so you will be informed, so you will have all the facts. ... We want you to make this sentencing decision on the cold, hard facts of what happened."

Jurors hear grisly details

One after another, a brother, a husband, a wife, and two mothers told the jury about their memories of April 19, 1995, when 168 people died in the blast and hundreds were injured.

A rescue worker talked about finding a decapitated baby. A medical examiner described in dispassionate tones how missing limbs were matched with bodies. A doctor described in chilling detail how he crawled into a cave-like space where a woman was trapped under concrete and tried to amputate her leg without anesthesia, at one point using a pocket knife.

It took several tries to extricate the woman, whose two children and mother were killed in the bombing, because the leg had not been completely severed. "Each time we pulled on it, but she was still attached to the leg," said Dr. Andy Sullivan.

Laura Sue Kennedy told a hushed courtroom how she searched for hours for her 18-month-old son the day of the bombing, never realizing his body was still in the rubble.

Three days later, she said, "Some people came and got us. You knew when people came and got you what they wanted and where you were going."

Keith Simonds, an Oklahoma City police officer, wept as he described how the day-care center's playground was converted into a makeshift morgue "for the babies."

'That's when my life ended'

Diane Leonard said the death of her husband, Don, a Secret Service agent, was harder to bear than when her mother committed suicide. "I feel like my heart is like that ... building," she said. "It has a huge hole that can't be mended."

Sells

"That's my beautiful wife," said Roy Sells as the jury was shown her picture. He told the jury that her body was found 10 days after the blast, adding, "That's when my life ended."

Rudy Guzman, whose brother, Randy, was killed in the Marine Corps recruiting office, said rescuers found his brother's body when they spotted the Marine stripe on his trousers.

In an apparent concession of his client's involvement, Nichols' attorney Michael Tigar told jurors the defense "will present evidence that Mr. Nichols' participation in the offense was relatively minor."

Nichols himself appeared to be near tears during Tigar's opening statement when he told the jury about Nichols' children.

Before ending the day's session, U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch warned the jurors to avoid reaching conclusions based on the day's testimony.

"It will be your responsibility to put it all in perspective," he said. "Please wait until you've heard it all."

National Correspondent Tony Clark and Reuters contributed to this report.

T H E   N I C H O L S   T R I A L  /   T H E   M c V E I G H   T R I A L
T H E   B O M B I N G  /   C N N   S T O R I E S   /   L I N K S

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