00:00:05
in the United States of America some of
00:00:08
the world's most dangerous and notorious
00:00:10
criminals are locked behind bars ran
00:00:14
Nichols is not only a murderer who
00:00:16
murdered innocent victims in a court of
00:00:18
law he definitely was somebody who
00:00:20
engaged in all kinds of different
00:00:23
crimes while on trail for rape Brian
00:00:26
Nicholls went on a
00:00:28
rampage he hit her so hard that her head
00:00:31
went against the cinder block wall
00:00:32
knocked her out I forced my way into the
00:00:35
courtroom and I saw judge Barnes laying
00:00:38
with blood coming out the back of his
00:00:39
head a prisoner who was armed and
00:00:42
dangerous was free and On The Run he
00:00:45
forces his way into a gonet woman's
00:00:47
apartment I was concerned because he was
00:00:49
now out I then called my wife and told
00:00:52
her to get our daughter out of school
00:00:54
he's just willing to mow over anyone who
00:00:57
gets in his way so he's absolutely still
00:00:59
Danger dous uh no matter where he is
00:01:02
Brian Nichols suddenly claimed the top
00:01:05
spot in America's Most Wanted Brian
00:01:08
Nichols assaults a deputy steals her gun
00:01:10
then hunts down and murders judge Roland
00:01:12
Barnes and his court reporter outside
00:01:15
Deputy Hoy Teasley is shot and killed by
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Nichols on the sidewalk even when he was
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securely locked behind bars ran Nichols
00:01:23
posed a serious threat to everyone he
00:01:26
met they move him from place to place
00:01:28
they do not let the same guards guard
00:01:30
him for a prolonged period of time
00:01:32
because they don't want them to get too
00:01:35
comfortable with
00:01:36
him and if he gets out there's no
00:01:39
telling what he might
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[Music]
00:01:58
do
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[Music]
00:02:09
Georgia Diagnostic and classification
00:02:11
prison is a maximum security facility
00:02:14
home to around 2,500
00:02:18
inmates a Maximum Security Prison it's
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more
00:02:22
restrictive they have gun post there's
00:02:24
more fences the thing that makes maximum
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security prisons more dangerous is that
00:02:30
the inmates in there usually usually
00:02:32
have a longer
00:02:34
sentence so they've already made it up
00:02:37
their minds that they're going to Live
00:02:38
and Die in prison that's their home so
00:02:40
when it does kick off they go all the
00:02:42
way they they'll attempt to kill you one
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of the most feared inmates kept Behind
00:02:47
Bars here is mass murderer Brian
00:02:51
Nichols I think he's the kind of person
00:02:53
that's always thinking always analyzing
00:02:56
always looking for the crack on the wall
00:02:58
always looking for the light you know
00:03:00
through the door I think Brian could be
00:03:02
a potential Escape
00:03:15
risk I think if Nicholls felt
00:03:19
cornered I think he would he very
00:03:21
possibly kill
00:03:23
again he was the natural Bor
00:03:28
killer in stark contrast to many of the
00:03:31
world's most dangerous prisoners
00:03:34
33-year-old Brian Nichols had enjoyed a
00:03:37
good
00:03:38
life he was educated he was employed at
00:03:41
a pretty good job and apparently he was
00:03:44
pretty good at it and he was he
00:03:48
basically he was living a successful
00:03:50
life but everything changed when he was
00:03:53
accused of rape and aggravated abuse by
00:03:56
a former
00:03:57
girlfriend he was facing
00:04:00
very significant jail time if he got
00:04:02
convicted of any number of the counts
00:04:05
that were lodged against him Nicholls
00:04:08
behavior in court made everyone nervous
00:04:12
before I left the house remember the
00:04:13
last thing I said to my wife was I don't
00:04:15
feel safe in that Court their fears were
00:04:17
confirmed when Nicholls suddenly turned
00:04:20
violent and one of the deputies went
00:04:23
into the lock up with with her
00:04:25
gun at that point in time he hit her hit
00:04:29
her so hard hard that her head went
00:04:30
against the cinder block wall knocked
00:04:32
her out now on the loose in the
00:04:35
courthouse Nicholls went on a killing
00:04:37
spree June B wouldn't have seen him come
00:04:40
into the main room Ryan shot June BS in
00:04:42
the left side of the
00:04:44
head he then took his Rampage out onto
00:04:47
the streets there was a house with the
00:04:50
door open and there was a federal agent
00:04:52
in there working on his b rooms he ended
00:04:55
up killing the
00:04:57
man and shortly after that is when he
00:05:01
kidnapped the
00:05:02
girl something happened that made him go
00:05:05
from kind of a regular person to
00:05:08
somebody who would kill four
00:05:17
people Nicholls grew up in a middle
00:05:20
class family during the 1970s and 80s in
00:05:23
Baltimore
00:05:24
Maryland he was a good student and a
00:05:27
talented
00:05:28
Sportsman he had a very involved family
00:05:32
and they were intact they were together
00:05:34
so he had people who who who liked him
00:05:38
um he had a body of
00:05:42
friends at the age of 21 Nichols was
00:05:45
kicked off the college football team for
00:05:47
stealing and moved to Atlanta
00:05:50
Georgia seeming to make a new start
00:05:53
Nichols secured a steady job at a
00:05:55
multinational technology company and he
00:05:58
had got himself a girl
00:06:00
friend she was a very successful woman
00:06:03
uh the times I spoke with her I found
00:06:05
her to be very
00:06:07
intelligent um very articulate um very
00:06:10
well put together you know
00:06:12
intellectually she she had a lot going
00:06:14
for her and and and that was a good
00:06:16
compliment because Brian was also very
00:06:18
[Music]
00:06:21
intelligent in 2004 when Brian Nichols
00:06:24
was 32 years old his life took a sudden
00:06:27
downward spiral when he was is accused
00:06:30
of
00:06:32
rape I am Barry Hazen I'm an attorney
00:06:35
criminal defense attorney and I
00:06:36
represented Brian Nichols in 2004 and
00:06:41
five where he was charged with rape in
00:06:44
Atlanta Georgia the woman who lodged the
00:06:46
complaint against Brian is is a woman
00:06:49
who he had who had been in a
00:06:51
relationship with him for a number of
00:06:54
years they didn't live together but they
00:06:57
were very much a couple in in a lot of
00:07:00
ways I know they were talking about
00:07:02
getting married the relationship was not
00:07:04
without its difficulties and Brian was
00:07:07
not faithful he did have another
00:07:10
relationship during that period of time
00:07:14
um and there was another woman and she
00:07:16
became pregnant through Brian and that
00:07:20
created a lot of turmoil in Brian's
00:07:22
relationship Brian's girlfriend
00:07:24
eventually left him but Brian was not
00:07:26
ready to let her go what's interesting
00:07:29
about rape is that people think of rape
00:07:32
as a sex crime and while yes it has a
00:07:35
horrific sexual component the real
00:07:37
driving Factor behind rape is control
00:07:41
and so it sounds like in this case his
00:07:44
girlfriend had left him which caused a
00:07:47
void which caused anger which caused
00:07:49
resentment so as a result of that anger
00:07:52
he decided to duct tape her and rape her
00:07:55
and sodomize her in order to exert
00:07:58
control over her situation that he no
00:08:00
longer had control over the first time I
00:08:03
met and and saw Brian was at the Fulton
00:08:05
County Jail he was being held without
00:08:07
bond the conditions at the Fulton can
00:08:10
were not very good conditions at
00:08:14
all of the jails I go to I think it's
00:08:17
probably the was the least desirable
00:08:19
place to
00:08:22
be inmates that end up in County Jail
00:08:25
can be anywhere from getting a DUI
00:08:26
driving Under the Influence murder rape
00:08:30
molestation robbery armed
00:08:34
robbery we spent a probably an hour hour
00:08:37
and a half talking back and forth about
00:08:40
the facts of the case with clients
00:08:42
sometimes you build a relationship right
00:08:44
away sometimes it takes a while but with
00:08:46
Brian there there was a bond Barry Hazen
00:08:50
knew Nichols faced significant jail time
00:08:53
as he had been charged with a number of
00:08:57
offenses I think they're about six or
00:09:00
seven counts alog together but of course
00:09:02
the biggest one was rape which could get
00:09:06
you a life sentence in Georgia the
00:09:08
aggravated assault was very serious that
00:09:09
can get you up to 20 years in Georgia
00:09:12
the others were less but they serious he
00:09:14
was facing very significant jail time if
00:09:18
he got convicted of any number of the
00:09:21
counts that were lodged against
00:09:24
him I knew it was going to be a
00:09:26
challenging case because any time that
00:09:28
you have a a sex related case a rape
00:09:32
case um you you're you're walking uphill
00:09:35
with a
00:09:37
rock but I liked Brian I found Brian to
00:09:40
be very intelligent very articulate very
00:09:44
warm with me very respectful of me and I
00:09:49
believed that there were sufficient
00:09:51
facts to work with to be able to defend
00:09:53
Brian but there was one issue about
00:09:56
Nicholls that niggled Barry I thought
00:09:59
that Brian was very taken with himself I
00:10:03
think that Brian had perhaps certain
00:10:06
narcissistic
00:10:08
Tendencies I didn't think he was
00:10:10
mentally ill but I thought that there
00:10:12
were certain issues that I needed to
00:10:15
take note
00:10:17
of on February 21st 2005 the trial
00:10:22
started at fton County Courthouse
00:10:24
despite building a strong rapport with
00:10:26
his client Barry quickly noticed there
00:10:29
were red flags and Nicholls Behavior the
00:10:32
first day of trial um um I I think the
00:10:36
judge was being tested by
00:10:39
Brian Ryan immediately said he had to go
00:10:41
to the bathroom I remember and he must
00:10:44
have been in there for 20 minutes and
00:10:46
the judge was asking where is he where
00:10:48
is he where is he what's what's going on
00:10:49
here and he ordered me to go in there to
00:10:51
get
00:10:52
him and Brian was just standing
00:10:55
there and so I I don't know what was
00:10:58
going on other than the fact that we
00:11:00
already had a judge that was
00:11:02
irritated Superior Court Judge Roland
00:11:05
Barnes was presiding over the
00:11:08
hearing he
00:11:10
was understanding and he cared about
00:11:15
people he couldn't care if you were rich
00:11:17
or
00:11:18
poor he cared about
00:11:20
you almost everybody want to go to in
00:11:23
front of Judge
00:11:24
Barnes because they know they would be
00:11:27
treated fear
00:11:29
the trial continued for 5 days and
00:11:32
throughout Barry was concerned about
00:11:34
what Nicholls would try next I didn't
00:11:37
feel threatened by him at all but I I
00:11:40
felt that he was
00:11:42
being kind of a pouty kid in a way being
00:11:46
resistive to the authority of the Court
00:11:48
over him despite Nichols provocative
00:11:51
Behavior Barry was doing his best to
00:11:53
secure a positive outcome for his client
00:11:57
it went really well for him I mean um
00:11:59
the the vote was 84 not guilty and then
00:12:02
there was a discussion with the judge
00:12:04
and and the district attorney myself it
00:12:06
was a hung jury the prosecutors wanted a
00:12:09
retrial but judge Barnes was not keen
00:12:12
the judge did not want to retry the case
00:12:14
he wanted him to let it go his fateful
00:12:17
decision of him throwing up in his hand
00:12:18
said okay then we'll retry it on Monday
00:12:20
the prospect of sitting alongside Brian
00:12:23
Nichols again for the retrial made Barry
00:12:26
nervous I thought the danger was a
00:12:28
possibility was up I I wasn't sure what
00:12:30
it was I I didn't know if they had
00:12:32
anything planned but I thought the mind
00:12:35
was spinning at that point in time I I
00:12:38
thought we could have a
00:12:45
problem early morning on March 7th 2005
00:12:49
the retrial of 33-year-old Brian Nichols
00:12:52
for the offenses including the rape and
00:12:54
Battery of his former girlfriend
00:12:58
began
00:13:00
my name is grantley white I'm I was a
00:13:03
sergeant with the fton county sheriff
00:13:05
department and a BFF for judge Roland
00:13:08
Barnes on the Brian Nichols
00:13:12
case at the courthouse you are
00:13:15
controlling the
00:13:17
courtroom you are brain
00:13:20
inmates in front of the judge ban
00:13:24
Nichols was very
00:13:26
quiet I always carrying carrying the
00:13:28
Bible
00:13:30
he didn't give any
00:13:32
problems
00:13:34
he complied with whatever he he
00:13:38
tell Nicholls appeared to behave
00:13:42
himself that was until day four when
00:13:45
judge Barnes made a shocking Discovery
00:13:49
the judge called us into Chambers and he
00:13:51
was very angry and which is unusual for
00:13:53
judge Barnes he was such an easygoing
00:13:55
man that he had a a manila folder and he
00:13:59
tossed the folder across the desk almost
00:14:01
at me like an anger and the picture slid
00:14:04
out of the folder there were two
00:14:05
photographs and he said here this is
00:14:07
what we found in your client's shoes
00:14:10
yesterday they looked like hinges
00:14:13
without the spindles because they had
00:14:14
holes in them and you could see they had
00:14:16
been sharpened they had been scraped we
00:14:17
found out later that it was the frame
00:14:20
from the light fixture in his cell that
00:14:22
he had taken apart and he had two of
00:14:25
those planks one in each shoe that's
00:14:27
when I thought oh wait a minute we we're
00:14:29
G Beyond being resistance here
00:14:32
something's not right it was a threat he
00:14:35
had crossed the line with
00:14:37
me while Barry could never have imagined
00:14:40
what his client would do next the judge
00:14:43
was evidently
00:14:45
nervous the tension level on that
00:14:48
Thursday was high the judge it seemed
00:14:52
concerned the judge said we we need to
00:14:53
get things off the tables that he can
00:14:56
use for instance you know they have
00:14:57
these little plastic discs that you run
00:14:59
wires through the judge ordered those
00:15:01
removed from the table he ordered the
00:15:04
the water pitches removed from the table
00:15:06
so they couldn't be used as a weapon and
00:15:08
the judge actually said we need more
00:15:10
beef in the courtroom that's the way he
00:15:11
put it I remember looking back to see if
00:15:14
there was going to be more beef and they
00:15:16
they had the same middle-aged woman
00:15:20
Deputy about 30 ft behind him and she
00:15:23
wasn't going to be any help and so I
00:15:25
became concerned and then the judge he
00:15:27
put his hand on my shoulder
00:15:29
and said you need to stay alert cuz
00:15:31
you're sitting right next to
00:15:38
him on the final day of the retrial
00:15:41
Nichols was as usual being held in
00:15:44
Fulton County Jail until proceedings
00:15:46
began in the courthouse grantley white
00:15:49
was the baith assigned to judge Barnes
00:15:52
that day I always every morning before
00:15:56
the court starts pray for the protection
00:16:00
to God to protect
00:16:02
me this is the first time I have given
00:16:06
an interview
00:16:08
about what happened it's hard to talk
00:16:11
about
00:16:17
it on
00:16:20
March 11th
00:16:22
2005 the last day for the trial of Baron
00:16:26
Nicholas I asked the judge if I can go
00:16:29
if I can get breakfast and he said yes
00:16:33
he was just talking to attorneys about
00:16:35
their
00:16:36
fee and he felt safe that nothing would
00:16:41
happen Nichols was you're from Rice
00:16:43
Street the Fon County Jail by van each
00:16:46
morning to the uh Courthouse and there's
00:16:49
a uh a a sally port kind of on the back
00:16:52
of the courthouse where they they bring
00:16:54
prisoners in they don't come in through
00:16:55
the main entrance and they're they're
00:16:56
brought up in an elevator you know I
00:16:58
secured elevator to whatever floor the
00:17:01
courtroom is on and then he'd be
00:17:03
escorted into into
00:17:07
that um before I left the house remember
00:17:11
the last thing I said to my wife was I
00:17:12
don't feel safe in that
00:17:14
courtroom up until the day
00:17:17
before I had no problem with him um I I
00:17:21
I knew he was being a problem for other
00:17:23
people but I didn't really think he was
00:17:25
a physical threat but suddenly I
00:17:29
[Music]
00:17:32
did at 8:45 a.m. Nichols had been
00:17:36
transferred from Fulton County Jail to a
00:17:39
holding cell located in the new building
00:17:41
of Fulton County
00:17:43
Courthouse there's always RIS
00:17:47
involved when an mate comes to court on
00:17:51
a jury trial he's brought upstairs to
00:17:55
change into civilian clothes he opened
00:17:58
the door
00:18:00
and then you remove the handcuffs from
00:18:03
the
00:18:04
inmate and place him in the holding cell
00:18:08
which is very risky because most
00:18:11
problems happen when you remove removing
00:18:16
the handcuffs from immat Nicholls was
00:18:19
being escorted into the court by a
00:18:21
female Deputy he took pride in being a
00:18:25
ladies man and being able to charm
00:18:27
people the Deputy she liked him she
00:18:30
actually told me this guy's
00:18:31
innocent so she she she felt that you
00:18:35
know she she was forming a kinship with
00:18:36
him the deputy had built a trust with
00:18:39
Nicholls and had let down her
00:18:42
guard and one of the deputies went into
00:18:45
the lockup um with with her
00:18:49
gun at that point in time he hit her hit
00:18:53
her so hard that her head went against
00:18:54
the cinder block wall knocked her out he
00:18:57
took her key and now he also can put on
00:19:00
civilian clothes and he's got a gun and
00:19:02
then calmly walked across that bridge
00:19:04
from the new building in into the old
00:19:06
building where judge Barnes is as I
00:19:10
turned the corner to go down the
00:19:13
hallway I
00:19:15
saw a person with a gun in the
00:19:20
hand then I recognize it was brand
00:19:25
[Music]
00:19:27
nck he did didn't shoot me right away so
00:19:32
I
00:19:32
figured he didn't want to kill me so I
00:19:36
decid see if I can talk to
00:19:38
him and I asked him what he was
00:19:42
doing and he kept saying don't do
00:19:44
anything don't do anything s don't do
00:19:47
anything and I tried to tell
00:19:49
him there's no reason for him to do it
00:19:52
he said it's too late for
00:19:55
that rather than make his Escape it
00:19:58
appear he that Nichols had a plan and
00:20:00
was intent on Vengeance and took
00:20:02
grantley
00:20:05
hostage and he put the gun to the back
00:20:07
of my head and he took my
00:20:11
gun he walked me into judge's
00:20:14
office and when I walked through the
00:20:16
door I saw there were some of the folks
00:20:21
that worked for the
00:20:23
judge and barica said to me H up these
00:20:27
folks
00:20:29
I didn't want to do
00:20:32
it one of the lady said please gry
00:20:35
please do what he
00:20:37
say then he said handcuff
00:20:42
yourself BR Nichols threw the handcuffs
00:20:45
at
00:20:45
me and I look at it and I saw blood on
00:20:48
them I knew it belongs to my Deputy her
00:20:51
name was engrave
00:20:53
on the thought ran through my mind that
00:20:56
he had killed
00:20:57
her
00:20:59
I handcuffed myself and I tried to make
00:21:00
them loose so maybe I can get out of
00:21:03
them because I knew that under the
00:21:05
judge's desk was a duress button as I
00:21:09
stand over by the
00:21:12
desk
00:21:14
I thought to myself how am I going to do
00:21:18
this so I decided to fake a heart attack
00:21:21
and fell down on my knees and as I fell
00:21:24
down on my knees I pushed the button
00:21:26
underneath the judge's desk
00:21:32
central control responded to the alarm
00:21:35
call but Nicholls was ready and reported
00:21:37
all was well but operators sense
00:21:40
something was very wrong one of the the
00:21:44
sergeants in the central control knew my
00:21:47
voice and said that's not white that's
00:21:49
not Sergeant White's voice then I
00:21:53
heard one of the ladies say Sergeant
00:21:56
he's gone he's gone while grantley
00:21:59
grabbed his radio to tell central
00:22:01
control what had just happened Nicholls
00:22:03
was tracking down his first kill he then
00:22:06
calmly walked into judge barnes's
00:22:08
Chambers remember judge Barnes is on the
00:22:10
bench on the divorce case he walks into
00:22:13
Chambers unlocked door and then goes
00:22:16
from chambers into the court room judge
00:22:19
Bon wouldn't have seen him come into the
00:22:21
main room and just immediately Brian
00:22:23
turned to his right shot jge bars in the
00:22:26
left side of the head
00:22:29
when Julie brandall the court reporter
00:22:30
turned around he shot
00:22:33
her and then left the courtroom through
00:22:37
the main
00:22:39
door grantley had heard the gunshots and
00:22:42
ran to the courtroom I forced my way
00:22:45
into the courtroom and I saw judge
00:22:47
Barnes laying by his desk with blood
00:22:50
coming out the back of his head and I
00:22:52
saw
00:22:55
Julie a bunch of deputies grabbed me and
00:22:57
pulled me out of the courtroom Nicholls
00:22:59
was making his Bol for Freedom he then
00:23:02
went uh down the stairs and one of the
00:23:05
deputies went running after
00:23:10
him having shot the judge and the court
00:23:13
reporter Brian Nichols began his escape
00:23:16
from the county courthouse Nicholls
00:23:18
targeted the judge because he really
00:23:20
believed the judge was probably
00:23:22
responsible for his fate while the judge
00:23:26
may have been responsible for having f
00:23:28
finding him guilty or not guilty and
00:23:30
imposing sentence what Nicholls is
00:23:32
unable to process in his mind is that
00:23:35
it's not ultimately the judge's fault
00:23:37
it's his fault he's the one that chose
00:23:39
to engage in the rape he's the one that
00:23:41
chose to engage in the violence he's the
00:23:43
one that got himself arrested but he's
00:23:45
unable to take accountability for his
00:23:47
actions Nichols was trying to escape the
00:23:50
courthouse but was being chased
00:23:53
down he got down to the bottom floor and
00:23:56
when the deputy came running after him
00:23:58
through the the door shot the deputy
00:24:00
also Deputy
00:24:03
Teasley I thought in my mind that uh
00:24:07
maybe a deputy had shot bar nich but he
00:24:09
had
00:24:10
shot one of one of the deputies that
00:24:14
proceeded down the stairs behind
00:24:16
him it was
00:24:19
horrible it was a horrible
00:24:24
day as 43-year-old father of two Hoy t
00:24:28
Lay Dying Nichols went on the
00:24:32
run it really shows not only the level
00:24:36
of savagery and sadism that Nichols was
00:24:38
willing to go to in order to gain his
00:24:41
freedom in a way that was clearly never
00:24:43
going to work long term but also his
00:24:45
lack of accountability what makes
00:24:47
Nicholls such a dangerous prisoner is
00:24:50
that he's willing to go to Really Great
00:24:52
Lengths to get his needs
00:24:55
met that's just the way Nicholls thinks
00:24:58
there there's no other way for him to
00:25:00
escape threat other than
00:25:05
violence unaware of his client's Killing
00:25:07
Spree defense attorney Barry Hazen was
00:25:10
making his way to the courthouse to get
00:25:13
ready for the 915 start as I was walking
00:25:15
to the courthouse I heard sirens maybe
00:25:18
four or five seconds after I heard them
00:25:21
these cars were whizzing past me police
00:25:23
cars whizzing past me to the courthouse
00:25:26
um and then I saw
00:25:28
deputies pouring out of the courthouse
00:25:30
from different different exits guns
00:25:33
drawn and I I I knew I just knew that it
00:25:37
had to involve
00:25:39
Brian one of the deputies who I know
00:25:42
came running up the street and shoved me
00:25:44
into a storefront and said you're in
00:25:47
danger your client is just shot judge
00:25:49
Barnes I was concerned because he was
00:25:52
now out I then called my wife and told
00:25:55
her to get our daughter out of school
00:25:57
and do not go home if he was looking for
00:25:59
Revenge I don't know how he felt about
00:26:01
me but it was a pretty
00:26:03
tense tense time I mean we didn't know
00:26:05
where he was or what he might
00:26:12
took intent on evading Justice Nichols
00:26:15
turned his attention to getting out of
00:26:18
Atlanta in 2005 I was working at the
00:26:21
Atlanta Journal Constitution I was a
00:26:23
featured reporter and it was a good job
00:26:28
I parked in the usual spot I always
00:26:30
parked and I usually got there around
00:26:32
9:30 or so I didn't have the radio on so
00:26:36
I didn't hear any news what what was
00:26:38
going on it just seemed like another
00:26:42
ordinary
00:26:43
day so I locked my car and was about to
00:26:46
leave when the SUV pulled in beside me
00:26:50
nice looking black man with no shirt
00:26:53
said do you know how to get to Linux
00:26:55
Square which is a local shopping mall
00:26:59
being polite I started giving him
00:27:02
Direction he got out of the car and
00:27:04
walked around I didn't think anything
00:27:07
about it until he pulled the
00:27:10
gun Dawn was the fourth person Nicholls
00:27:13
had confronted since escaping he was
00:27:16
completely unaware the man holding the
00:27:18
gun was a multiple
00:27:22
murderer when he said give me your keys
00:27:24
I said to myself this is the car jack
00:27:29
just just stay calm give him the keys
00:27:32
and he'll drive off and that's it but
00:27:34
then when he took my keys and unlocked
00:27:36
the trunk and told me to get in I knew
00:27:39
this was serious
00:27:43
business he was giving orders like a
00:27:46
drill instructor he was not erratic he
00:27:50
was amazingly calm he was just upset
00:27:53
that I wouldn't follow his directions we
00:27:56
kind of stared at each other for a few
00:27:58
minutes and he said get in the trunk
00:28:01
I'll kill you I shook my head and he
00:28:04
kept kept closer and flared at me and he
00:28:07
said get in the trunk I'll shoot
00:28:15
you and after I refused to get into the
00:28:18
trunk he ended up hitting me over my eye
00:28:22
and I fell and then I scrambled to my
00:28:24
feet and ran out this way
00:28:30
this was the most terrifying thing that
00:28:32
ever happened I never had a gun pointed
00:28:35
at me i' had never been threatened but I
00:28:38
think I was reasonably calm considering
00:28:41
the
00:28:42
situation and I went two blocks up that
00:28:44
way and ran into a fellow reporter and
00:28:49
he told me there had been a shooting at
00:28:50
the courthouse the judge had been killed
00:28:52
two other people shot and he said sounds
00:28:55
like the same guy and he said they
00:28:58
police put down a block interviewing
00:29:00
people and so I went there told him what
00:29:03
had happened describe my green Honda
00:29:05
that he had taken and then I went to the
00:29:09
medical center to get my wrist fixed and
00:29:12
my eyes stitched and that was my morning
00:29:17
so
00:29:17
far while law enforcement were
00:29:20
desperately trying to locate nickels the
00:29:22
scene at Fulton County Courthouse was
00:29:24
one of
00:29:27
devastation
00:29:28
it still affects me up to this
00:29:32
day it's hard to talk about
00:29:37
it judge bur was not only a judge he was
00:29:41
my
00:29:43
friend Julie was
00:29:47
special she was really kind Julie made
00:29:52
sure that the jury got how a cake every
00:29:55
morning she was really really nice
00:29:59
[Music]
00:30:01
Julie brandow she was warm and wonderful
00:30:04
and friendly it went with judge Barnes
00:30:07
his Chambers was a place if if you had
00:30:09
some time between cases and you wanted
00:30:12
to hang out somewhere you can go there
00:30:14
and just sit there and eat popcorn have
00:30:16
a cup of coffee he didn't have a lock on
00:30:18
the store all the other judges did his
00:30:20
was wide open and Julie brandal had that
00:30:24
attitude also she was just this this
00:30:27
really nice
00:30:32
person as Atlanta Police Department took
00:30:34
over the crime scene officers had no
00:30:37
idea where Nicholls was and offered a
00:30:40
substantial reward for
00:30:43
information what he had done was to
00:30:46
drive my car up one level backed it into
00:30:49
the parking space taking my Navy Blazer
00:30:53
out of the car put it
00:30:54
on walked across to the martar the mass
00:30:58
transit system took the train to Lin
00:31:03
square with Nichols now the focus of one
00:31:05
of the biggest manhunts America had ever
00:31:08
seen police were unaware he was just 7 m
00:31:12
away in the streets around the Lenn
00:31:14
Square shopping mall 13 hours on from
00:31:18
his first kill he was about to take
00:31:20
another innocent
00:31:26
life he was looking for a place to hide
00:31:30
or whatever and there was a house with
00:31:32
the door open and there was a federal
00:31:34
agent and they're working on this
00:31:36
bathroom the crime spree continued with
00:31:39
Nicholls shooting and killing US Customs
00:31:41
agent David Wilhelm at his home he then
00:31:45
steals his pickup truck badge and
00:31:48
Pistol it was a pretty
00:31:50
tense tense time I mean we didn't know
00:31:53
where he was or what he might do what we
00:31:54
did find out is that he committed
00:31:56
another another killing that night we
00:31:58
shot the federal Marshall um which is
00:32:01
about a half a mile from my
00:32:02
[Music]
00:32:05
house with the murder of off-duty
00:32:07
federal agent David wilham freshly in
00:32:09
his
00:32:10
wake Nicholls headed 30 Mi North to gnet
00:32:15
[Music]
00:32:18
County I was asked to come down to
00:32:21
downtown Atlanta they wanted to film a a
00:32:24
request for him to turn himself in and
00:32:26
all of a sudden a a driver gets in the
00:32:29
van and a reporter gets in the van and
00:32:31
we take off and he says oh he's in
00:32:33
Gwynette County I'm just sitting in his
00:32:34
van at this point in time I'm like a
00:32:39
[Music]
00:32:46
prisoner at around 2 a.m. Ashley Smith
00:32:49
was unpacking her new apartment when she
00:32:51
headed out briefly to buy
00:32:53
cigarettes on her return Nicholls was
00:32:57
waiting in the
00:32:58
Shadows placing a gun to her back he
00:33:01
forced his way into her
00:33:03
apartment he forces his way into a gonet
00:33:06
woman's apartment a swap team surrounds
00:33:09
[Music]
00:33:16
Nicholls having killed four innocent
00:33:19
people in a murderous Rampage alleged
00:33:21
rapist Brian Nichols was on the Run he
00:33:25
had reached a town 30 m north of of
00:33:27
Downtown
00:33:30
Atlanta a lot of people high on
00:33:32
psychopathy actually tend to be very
00:33:34
impulsive and not engage in long-term
00:33:36
thinking and those four people were in
00:33:38
his way and so it was a means to an end
00:33:41
Nichols was aware the police were on his
00:33:43
Trail and had taken a hostage single mom
00:33:46
Ashley
00:33:48
Smith Ashley Smith had managed to stay
00:33:51
alive by gaining the trust of Nicholls
00:33:54
spending the night talking about God and
00:33:56
forgiveness
00:33:59
they believe there is a hostage
00:34:00
situation going on right now this is in
00:34:02
duth Georgia it's about 15 miles north
00:34:05
of the Fulton County Courthouse in
00:34:07
Atlanta where we know three people were
00:34:08
killed
00:34:09
yesterday Ashley had made Nicholls
00:34:12
breakfast and encouraged the killer to
00:34:14
turn himself in he refused at around
00:34:17
9:15 a.m. Ashley managed to persuade
00:34:20
Nichols to let her go and see her
00:34:23
daughter as soon as she was in the car
00:34:26
she dialed 911 one police quickly
00:34:29
surrounded the
00:34:30
area we were about maybe I don't know
00:34:33
150 ft from where he was
00:34:35
perhaps and the apartment was surrounded
00:34:38
and I thought if he doesn't come out
00:34:39
they they're going to kill him but
00:34:41
fortunately he waved a white shirt and
00:34:44
then they swarmed him and and he was
00:34:45
just covered you couldn't even see him
00:34:46
at that point in time he did ask for me
00:34:49
to come talk to him I
00:34:51
declined my attitude was that I
00:34:54
represented him on a rape case I was not
00:34:56
representing him on a murder case
00:34:58
especially given the fact that I knew
00:35:00
the people who had killed um I knew
00:35:04
judge B I knew J brandow and there's no
00:35:07
way I could do that as the city of
00:35:09
Atlanta emerged from a 26-hour lockdown
00:35:12
Brian Nichols was securely locked away
00:35:15
once again at Fulton County
00:35:19
Jail when a person commits a crime out
00:35:22
on the streets they get arrested they go
00:35:23
to the police department to get
00:35:25
processed and then they'll go to county
00:35:27
jail
00:35:28
that's where they'll take away their
00:35:30
belongings dress them out in inmate
00:35:32
attire and fingerprint them book them
00:35:35
and they wait there until they get
00:35:37
scheduled to go to
00:35:39
[Music]
00:35:41
prison just under two months later
00:35:44
Nichols was indicted by a Fulton County
00:35:46
grand jury on 54
00:35:49
counts citing mental health issues
00:35:52
Nicholls pleaded not guilty he may have
00:35:55
planned these murders in order to get
00:35:57
the death penalty it seems more like his
00:36:00
goal was just to escape the courthouse
00:36:02
just to escape prison and not think much
00:36:05
about the
00:36:10
future while awaiting trial at Fulton
00:36:13
County Jail Nicholls attempted to enlist
00:36:15
two sheriff's deputies while plotting an
00:36:20
escape it is safe to
00:36:22
assume that every inmate wants to escape
00:36:26
from prison I would say some personality
00:36:29
traits of somebody attempting to escape
00:36:31
or wanting to escape would be maybe
00:36:34
growing out their hair one day or
00:36:35
cutting it to the next to be able to
00:36:37
disguise themselves as they attempt to
00:36:39
flee getting physically fit so that they
00:36:42
are able to run or walk multiple
00:36:45
miles learning the layout of the
00:36:48
surrounding areas in towns maybe
00:36:50
acquiring a map a compus a cell phone to
00:36:52
Aid them in an escape those are the type
00:36:54
of ones that are kind of smart with it
00:36:58
deemed a high security risk Nichols was
00:37:01
moved to decob county jail he remained
00:37:04
here for 2
00:37:08
years until on July 10th 2008 Nicholls
00:37:13
murder trial began he maintained his
00:37:16
plea of Not Guilty by reason of insanity
00:37:20
well it was actually the first time i'
00:37:21
had been a witness in a trial especially
00:37:23
when I was one involved with it and it
00:37:27
was
00:37:28
um I was very nervous they asked me to
00:37:31
point him out in the
00:37:34
courtroom that's when I had flashback
00:37:36
because I I knew I was going to have to
00:37:39
tell the story again and the image
00:37:42
flashed through my
00:37:44
mind about
00:37:46
everything
00:37:50
and yeah I
00:37:52
know I wouldn't want to be in the same
00:37:54
room with him
00:37:56
again
00:37:58
I actually broke down on the stand
00:38:01
Nicholas was sitting with attorneys next
00:38:03
to
00:38:04
him I kept looking at him I kept staring
00:38:08
at
00:38:09
him I could not help but stare at him
00:38:12
I'm such an evil
00:38:15
person it was hard because of the loss
00:38:18
of my my friends judge Julie
00:38:23
deputies something I would
00:38:26
never forget
00:38:27
[Music]
00:38:29
I'll live with it for the rest of my
00:38:31
[Music]
00:38:34
life in an incredible turn of events it
00:38:38
transpired that Nicholls had killed the
00:38:40
man about to give him his
00:38:44
freedom about 6 months after the
00:38:47
shooting I got a telephone call from an
00:38:50
attorney who told me that the night
00:38:52
before the
00:38:53
shooting that he had a conversation with
00:38:55
judge Barnes about the case
00:38:58
judge barnens told him he was going to
00:39:00
cut Brian Nichols free by granting a
00:39:03
motion for directed verdict of a quiddle
00:39:07
if the defense thinks there's not enough
00:39:09
evidence legally for for a jury to even
00:39:13
find somebody guilty Beyond A Reasonable
00:39:15
Doubt is a legal issue it's insufficient
00:39:17
you can make a motion for a directed
00:39:19
verdict of equ quiddle so Brian killed
00:39:23
the person that was going to cut him
00:39:24
loose the case would not even gone to
00:39:26
the jury
00:39:28
Brian was going to go
00:39:30
[Music]
00:39:36
home the jury deliberated for 12 hours
00:39:39
over 2 days before finding Nichols
00:39:42
guilty of four counts of murder and 50
00:39:45
other charges sentenced to multiple life
00:39:47
sentences with no chance of parole
00:39:50
Nichols was spared the death penalty
00:39:52
when the jury failed to reach a
00:39:54
unanimous
00:39:56
decision I think two or three people
00:39:58
voted against it but it all depends
00:40:02
on who the jury is if if someone is
00:40:05
looks they say looks like a Killer looks
00:40:08
like a horrible person they're more
00:40:10
likely to do that but he looked like an
00:40:14
ordinary middle class
00:40:20
guy they blamed it on something mental
00:40:24
not the fact that he was a natural Bo
00:40:26
killer
00:40:28
yes I was ple with the verdict because
00:40:30
he's got a long time to
00:40:32
think he was given over 200
00:40:37
years I think him BR in prison is worse
00:40:39
than the death
00:40:41
penalty it should
00:40:44
be sentenced to four consecutive life
00:40:47
sentences Nichols was incarcerated in
00:40:50
Georgia Diagnostic and classification
00:40:52
state
00:40:55
prison with a history of of Escape
00:40:57
attempts and plots Nicholls remains a
00:41:00
high security risk to those guarding him
00:41:04
my understanding is they move him from
00:41:05
place to place they do not let the same
00:41:08
guards guard him for a prolonged period
00:41:10
of time because they don't want them to
00:41:13
get too comfortable with him right that
00:41:16
they you know they move him around
00:41:18
different people interact with him
00:41:20
because he's considered to be a high
00:41:21
security risk and I believe he is I
00:41:24
think if he felt cornered I think he
00:41:26
would very possibly kill again barck is
00:41:29
a person you cannot trust he is a wolf
00:41:34
and sheep clothing Nichols wrap sheet
00:41:37
which features the deaths of so many law
00:41:39
enforcement officials has given him
00:41:41
Kudos with other
00:41:44
prisoners reputation in prison is pretty
00:41:47
much everything so if a suspect
00:41:49
committed a crime out on the streets
00:41:51
would it carry over the reputation
00:41:53
inside a prison that all depends on the
00:41:55
notoriety that it make the used was the
00:41:58
person that the crime was committed
00:42:00
against was it a police officer so
00:42:03
depending on who the victim was and the
00:42:05
circumstances of the crime absolutely
00:42:07
that reputation carry inside the
00:42:12
prison my guess is he's probably got a
00:42:15
bit of notoriety there in the prison
00:42:18
population if you don't have much in
00:42:20
prison you try to G what little you do
00:42:22
have he'll die there unless he you know
00:42:25
escapes one thing remains clear to all
00:42:28
involved in this case Brian Nichols is
00:42:31
still one of the world's most evil
00:42:34
Prisoners the the the impact of what he
00:42:38
had done he had taken a judge everyone
00:42:42
liked he took a court reporter a
00:42:45
beautiful person he took a deputy life a
00:42:48
deputy that will be there for
00:42:50
you
00:42:52
anytime he had impact so many people
00:42:55
lives all the families
00:42:57
of the
00:43:02
victims no one would ever be the
00:43:14
[Music]
00:43:20
[Music]
00:43:26
same
00:43:29
[Music]
00:43:46
[Music]
00:43:57
[Music]
00:44:09
[Music]
