Terry Nichols

Terry Nichols

Terry Nichols is the second man charged in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 19, 1995.
The third of four children, Terry Nichols was born on the family farm in  town of Lapeer, Michigan. Nichols' father farmed and worked on construction jobs.
When Nichols was a senior at Lapeer High School, his parents divorced. After graduation, he went to Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, but stayed for less than a year. He returned to work on the farm.
In 1981, Nichols married Lana Walsh. In 1983 their son Joshua was born.
Nichols did a number of part-time jobs; sold land, securities and life insurance. He managed a grain elevator and did some carpentry. His wife worked at building a career in real estate. Nichols stayed at home and did housework. He cared for the children, did laundry, grew organic vegetables and cooked.
Nichols became depressed. He and his wife discussed their situation and decided the best thing would be for him to join the Army. Although he was 33-years-old and had children, Nichols enlisted on May 24, 1988. Nichols became a driver for his commanding officer and became a good friend of McVeigh. The two shared survivalist beliefs, a love of weaponry, and a distrust in the government.
In late 1988 Nichols' wife Lana filed for divorce and planned to pursue her real estate career in Las Vegas. With less than a year service in the Army, Nichols was released on a hardship discharge to take care of their 6-year-old son. He returned to Michigan, worked as a carpenter for a while, then he moved back into his mother's and brother's farmhouse.
In 1990, he flew to the Philippines to find a wife and dealt through an illegal mail order bride enterprise. In early 1991 Nichols married 17-year-old Marife Torres.
In the spring of 1993, his Army buddy Timothy McVeigh moved in with him at the farm. McVeigh traveled to gun shows and traded in guns. Soon, McVeigh, Nichols and his brother were practicing setting off explosives on the farm.
Before the Oklahoma City bombing a person using the alias 'Mike Havens' bought 40 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate from a local farm co-op. The sales slip was found in Nichols' house after the bombing attack in Oklahoma City. And the day after the purchase of the ammonium nitrate, 299 sticks of dynamite and 544 blasting caps were stolen from a quarry nearby. In the following two months, Nichols rented two storage sheds under an alias. And the same person, using the name Mike Havens, bought 40 more bags of ammonium nitrate.
On December 23, a jury, after deliberating 41 hours, refused to convict Nichols of murder, instead finding him guilty of involuntary manslaughter and of conspiring with McVeigh. Nichols escaped the death penalty because the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether he was planning an attack 'with the intent to kill.' Nearly six months later, Nichols was sentenced by a federal judge to spend the rest of his life in prison.