The Oklahoma City bombing was 8 years ago and McVeigh was executed in 2001. I realize that they are trying to place new charges and hopefully a harsher sentence on him (he deserves execution) but, I don’t know of any other case taking quite this long or this “odd” route. Why is this case so hard to prosecute?
Terry Nichols was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole, June 4, 1998.
I’m afraid I don’t understand the question.
FYI
He’s in court today!!!
That’s the backbone of my post.
Well, yeah, in a state trial. The State of Oklahoma announced its intention to try Nichols and seek the death penalty for his state crimes if the federal government didn’t give him the death penalty for his federal crimes. The feds didn’t, and so now Oklahoma is trying him.
As I understand it, the feds charged him with conspiracy and voluntary manslaughter, and that’s what he was sentenced for. However, unlike his idiot friend McVeigh, Terry Nichols has good lawyers (including noted liberal professor Kenneth Tigar) and listens to them. Moreover, he still has appeals remaining.
For that reason, Oklahoma City prosecutors are far from convinced that Nichols will serve out the sentence he received. If it’s feasible, they want to prosecute him for the murders of any and all victims not named in the original federal indictment. That way, on the off chance that Nichols manages to wiggle out of his federal conviction, he’ll still have the death penalty waiting for him in Oklahoma.
OKC resident here, astorian pretty much hit it on the nose. The feds prosecuted only for the fedaral employees killed.
OK Atorney General (former) Bob Macy wanted to try him for the 160 or so other deaths, and make sure TN never leaves jail.
Plus, some of the scuttlebutt around my fireman and police friends is that TN clammed up and didn’t implicate anyone else. Many are of the mind that hanging the death penalty over his head might get him to open up.
Of course, I have yet to see anything on the news about that last part. Just rumor.