Nichols' life spared by hung jury

Los Angeles Times

McALESTER, Okla. -- Terry L. Nichols' life was spared a second time Friday night when a jury deciding whether he should die for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing said it was hopelessly deadlocked despite prosecutors' efforts to paint him as an architect of the attack.

The same six men and six women who convicted Nichols of 161 counts of first-degree murder last month deliberated for nearly 21 hours over three days before announcing they were at an impasse in a series of notes to District Judge Steven W. Taylor.

The 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people, including 19 children. Survivors of the bombing and relatives of those killed wept with frustration in the courtroom Friday.

"If I could ask the jury one question it would be this: How many people do you have to kill before you get the death sentence?" said Roy Sells, 71, whose wife, Leora Lee, was killed in the blast.

Others, emotionally exhausted by nine years of legal wrangling, were through asking questions. "Let him rot," said Paul Howell, 67, whose daughter Karan Howell Shepherd, 27, died in the blast.

Nichols, 49, is already serving a life prison term, without possibility of parole, following a separate federal conviction in the deaths of eight law enforcement agents killed in the blast. Prosecutors in that case also failed to secure the death penalty after jurors disagreed on whether Nichols took part in the plot with the knowledge that people could die.

The state trial was a separate action brought on behalf of the remaining bomb victims, as well as a fetus. The decision to bring state charges against Nichols in 1999 was a controversial one. Many in Oklahoma do not believe the trial, which lasted for three months, was worth the financial costs or the emotional toll. The cost of the trial is not yet known, but earlier estimates ranged from $4 million to more than $10 million.

The jury's inability to agree on a sentence renewed charges that the case was motivated by vengeance and was a waste of energy and resources.

"The politics of the death penalty need to be addressed," said Garvin A. Isaacs, a prominent Oklahoma City attorney who lost two friends to the bombing. "I've just had bad feelings about this whole exercise. When you look at the fact that this man is not going anywhere and will never hurt another person, it seems to me that reason should apply. I just don't understand this. It makes no sense." Timothy J. McVeigh was also convicted in federal court in the deaths of the officers, and was executed in 2001 before he could be brought to trial on state charges. Nichols' conviction in this case marks the first time, technically, that anyone has been held responsible for the majority of the deaths.

"They have now had their day in court," said Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane. "Terry Nichols, for the first time, is now a convicted mass murderer." Taylor told the jurors Friday that they had provided a valuable service, regardless of their inability to reach unanimous agreement.

"I do not want any of you to leave this building tonight feeling that you have let down the system or not done your job," he said. "No one -- no one -- should even suggest or hint that you haven't done your job." Nichols' defense team had little comment on the outcome of the case.

"The death penalty is not an option," said attorney Brian Hermanson. "Life is much more in the state's best interest."