Overview

Terry Nichols was a conspirator in the deadliest homegrown terror attack in U.S. history––the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The attack, which took place on April 19, 1995, left 168 people dead and more than 500 others wounded.“Oklahoma City Bombing,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, accessed September 26, 2017, https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing;
“Oklahoma City Bombing Fast Facts,” CNN, March 29, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/oklahoma-city-bombing-fast-facts/index.html. Nichols helped the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, acquire materials and construct the bomb that would be used in the attack.“McVeigh Chronology,” PBS, accessed September 26, 2017, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/mcveigh2.html;
“McVeigh eats final formal meal before execution,” CNN, June 11, 2001, http://edition.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/10/mcveigh/. Nichols was convicted on charges of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in federal court and 161 counts of murder in Oklahoma state court, and was accordingly sentenced to a life in prison.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html. He was placed in the United States’ highest security prison, the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, to serve his life sentence.Mark Binelli, “Inside America’s Toughest Federal Prison,” New York Times, March 26, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/inside-americas-toughest-federal-prison.html.

Nichols was born on a farm in Lapeer, Michigan. He graduated high school and attended Central Michigan University for one semester before dropping out and returning home to help on the family farm. He married in 1981 and had a son the following year. Nichols tried various paths of work, finally joining the U.S. Army in May of 1988.Sandy Shore, “Nichols Called Drifter, Devoted Dad,” Washington Post, September 21, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/tn-drifter.htm. He underwent basic training in Georgia, where he first met Timothy McVeigh, who he would later help carry out the Oklahoma City attack.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html. The two struck up a close relationship founded on their shared conservative, anti-government views.Sandy Shore, “Nichols Called Drifter, Devoted Dad,” Washington Post, September 21, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/tn-drifter.htm.

Nichols was granted a discharge from the Army to take care of his son after his wife divorced him in October of 1988.Sandy Shore, “Nichols Called Drifter, Devoted Dad,” Washington Post, September 21, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/tn-drifter.htm. He married again soon after to a mail-order bride from the Philippines, and they had two children together.Sandy Shore, “Nichols Called Drifter, Devoted Dad,” Washington Post, September 21, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/tn-drifter.htm;
“Key Players: The Accused,” Fox News, June 11, 2001, https://web.archive.org/web/20080414002057/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,26782,00.html. In 1992, Nichols tried to renounce his American citizenship, claiming that he was a “non-resident alien” rather than a “citizen of the corrupt political corporate state of Michigan and the United States of America.”“Key Players: The Accused,” Fox News, June 11, 2001, https://web.archive.org/web/20080414002057/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,26782,00.html. He continued his friendship with McVeigh, who reportedly stayed with Nichols at his home in Michigan on separate occasions in 1992 and 1993.“Timothy McVeigh,” CNN, March 29, 2001, http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29/profile.mcveigh/index.html;
Dale Russakoff and Serge F. Kovalevski, “An Ordinary Boy’s Extraordinary Rage,” Washington Post, July 2, 1995, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/bg/mcveigh.htm. In 1994, Nichols began working at a Kansas farmhouse, but quit months later to start a business with McVeigh selling guns and military gear.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html. Similarly to McVeigh, Nichols shared an affinity for guns and viewed the government as a threat.“From decorated veteran to mass murderer,” CNN, 2001, http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/mcveigh/profile.html.

After McVeigh decided to take violent action against the government, Nichols assisted him in constructing the bomb for the Oklahoma City attack. The two worked out of Kansas during the fall of 1994, where they rented a storage locker.“McVeigh Chronology,” PBS, accessed September 26, 2017, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/mcveigh2.html. They reportedly robbed an arms dealer at gunpoint for funds, purchased the bomb’s key ingredients––fertilizer and ammonium nitrate, and stole other explosives and materials to construct the 5,000-pound bomb.“McVeigh Chronology,” PBS, accessed September 26, 2017, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/mcveigh2.html;
“McVeigh eats final formal meal before execution,” CNN, June 11, 2001, http://edition.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/10/mcveigh/;
“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html;
Andrew Gumbel, “Oklahoma City bombing: 20 years later, key questions remain unanswered,” Guardian (London), April 13, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/13/oklahoma-city-bombing-20-years-later-key-questions-remain-unanswered. In November of 1994, Nichols traveled to the Philippines to see his wife. Before his departure, he reportedly gave his ex-wife in the United States letters to give to McVeigh on the condition that he did not return in two months.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html;
Tom Kenworthy, “Ex-Wife Describes Nichols’s Letters, Defendant Moved to Tears,” Washington Post, November 20, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/nichols1120.htm. In these letters, which were later revealed in court proceedings, Nichols wrote “your [sic] on your own, go for it.”Tom Kenworthy, “Ex-Wife Describes Nichols’s Letters, Defendant Moved to Tears,” Washington Post, November 20, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/nichols1120.htm. However, Nichols returned to the United States in January 1995.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html.

On April 18, 1995, the day before the attack, Nichols and McVeigh assembled the bomb in the back of a rented Ryder truck at Geary Lake Start Park in Kansas.“Oklahoma City Bombing Timeline, 1994-2005,” Fox News, April 13, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/04/13/oklahoma-city-bombingtimeline-14-2005.html. On the morning of April 19, 1995, McVeigh drove the truck containing the bomb to the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. McVeigh parked the truck, ignited the fuse, and departed in a second vehicle. The bomb exploded at 9:02 a.m., blasting apart a third of the building and damaging more than 300 neighboring buildings. In the deadliest homegrown terror attack in U.S. history, the explosion killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured more than 500 others.“Oklahoma City Bombing,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, accessed September 26, 2017, https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing;
“Oklahoma City Bombing Fast Facts,” CNN, March 29, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/oklahoma-city-bombing-fast-facts/index.html.

Authorities were ultimately able to identify the suspects by the identification number on one of the axles of the Ryder truck found at the site of the explosion.Hailey Branson-Potts, “After Oklahoma City bombing, McVeigh’s arrest almost went unnoticed,” Los Angeles Times, April 19, 2015, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-oklahoma-city-bombing-20150419-story.html. Nichols turned himself in to police in Herington, Kansas, on April 21, after he learned that authorities were searching for him. He was charged for his involvement in the attack less than three weeks later, on May 10. Nichols’s brother James was also arrested at the same time on suspicion of being a material witness, but he was released without charge. On August 10, Nichols was indicted on charges of murder and conspiracy. In 1996, the case was moved to Colorado, and Nichols transferred to a prison there.“Oklahoma City Bombing Timeline, 1994-2005,” Fox News, April 13, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/04/13/oklahoma-city-bombingtimeline-14-2005.html.

Nichols’s federal trial began in November of 1997. On December 24, he was convicted on one count of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter after the jury rejected first-degree murder charges.“Oklahoma City Bombing Timeline, 1994-2005,” Fox News, April 13, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/04/13/oklahoma-city-bombingtimeline-14-2005.html;
Lois Romano and Tom Kenworthy, “Nichols Guilty of Conspiracy, Manslaughter,” Washington Post, December 24, 1997, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/nichols1224.htm. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but Nichols was ultimately spared from it owing to a deadlocked jury.“Oklahoma City Bombing Timeline, 1994-2005,” Fox News, April 13, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/04/13/oklahoma-city-bombingtimeline-14-2005.html. On June 4, 1998, Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html.

In addition to his federal trial, Nichols also underwent a state trial in Oklahoma, which began on March 22, 2004. On May 26, he was convicted of 161 counts of murder. Once again, the jury was deadlocked on the possibility of the death penalty as a sentence, so Nichols was again sentenced to a life in prison without the possibility of parole.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html. Nichols was placed in a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado, to serve his life sentence.Mark Binelli, “Inside America’s Toughest Federal Prison,” New York Times, March 26, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/inside-americas-toughest-federal-prison.html.

On April 1, 2005, upon searching Nichols’ former home, the FBI announced that they found explosives and other bomb-making materials that they had missed during their previous searches.“Oklahoma City Bombing Timeline, 1994-2005,” Fox News, April 13, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/04/13/oklahoma-city-bombingtimeline-14-2005.html. Authorities were tipped off by Gregory Scarpa Jr., a fellow inmate at Nichols’s maximum-security prison in Colorado. Nichols reportedly revealed to Scarpa that there were still hidden explosives that the FBI had not found after Scarpa befriended him in the hope of learning more about the Oklahoma City attack.Nolan Clay, “Mobster must serve full sentence despite OKC bombing revelation,” Oklahoma City News, August 19, 2017, http://newsok.com/article/5560787. However, the discovery did not lead to any legal changes in Nichols’s case.Lloyd Vries, “Discovery Linked to Okla. Bombing,” CBS News, April 1, 2005, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/discovery-linked-to-okla-bombing/.

In 2011, it was revealed that Nichols had been corresponding with a woman named Jannie Coverdale, who lost two grandchildren in the Oklahoma City bombing.“Terry Nichols Fast Facts,” CNN, March 23, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/us/terry-nichols-fast-facts/index.html. In the letters, he expressed remorse and claimed that he had believed that McVeigh would use the bomb to destroy “some type of monument, bridge, or similar structure,” rather than an occupied building.Kris Gutierrez, “Oklahoma City Bombing Co-Conspirator Reaches Out to Victims in letters,” Fox News, November 29, 2011, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/29/oklahoma-city-bombing-co-conspirator-reaches-out-to-victims-in-letters.html;
Nolan Clay, “Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichol writes he ‘grieves daily,’” NewsOK, November 28, 2011, http://newsok.com/article/3627242;
“Oklahoma City co-conspirator grieves daily,” United Press International, November 28, 2011, https://www.upi.com/Oklahoma-City-co-conspirator-grieves-daily/26991322502229/.