Author Topic: How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?  (Read 1039 times)

Offline Halo

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« on: March 12, 2005, 07:06:02 PM »
Simply amazing -- a law requires that an accused NOT be handcuffed going into court for trial, so the bigger guy takes the female deputy's gun, shoots her in the head, kills the judge ... read on and wonder how a justice system can leave itself so vulnerable.

A guy this guilty should be executed on confrontation, not dragged back to court so he can try that again.  

(QUOTE)

Distress Call From Woman Leads to Suspect's Capture
Gunman Opened Fire in Court Killing Three; U.S. Customs Agent Found Dead Today
By RUSS BYNUM, AP

   
 
AP Photo/WSB-TV
 
 
Brian Nichols was taken into custody by a SWAT team that swarmed an apartment complex.
Watch Video:  See His Arrest
 

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· Second Trial Was Going Badly
· Profiles of Court Victims
· Previous Attacks Aimed at Judges

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DULUTH, GA. (March 12) - A 911 call from a woman who had been held hostage for hours in her own apartment ended a daylong manhunt for a rape suspect accused of shooting a judge and two others at a courthouse and then later killing an immigration agent as he eluded authorities.

The suspect, 33-year-old Brian Nichols, set off a massive manhunt in the Atlanta area after he allegedly overpowered a court deputy Friday, took her gun and fatally shot three people, including the judge on his rape case.

During the night, Nichols approached a woman as she was entering her suburban Atlanta apartment and introduced himself as a wanted man, authorities said.

"It's my understanding that he had told her, 'If you do what I say, I won't kill you,"' Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan said.

The woman either escaped or was allowed to leave and called 911. A SWAT team gathered outside and Nichols turned himself in after watching the manhunt on television, Gwinnett County Police Chief Charles Walters said.

"He literally waved a white flag or a T-shirt and came out to our folks," Walters said.

The arrest came hours after the body of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent David Wilhelm was discovered shot to death about 15 miles away at an upscale townhouse complex. His blue pickup truck, pistol and badge were missing.

   
 Massive Manhunt Ends  
   
   
   
   
FBI Spokesman Steve Lazarus said Nichols is a suspect in that shooting, and police said the truck was found at a location other than the complex where Nichols was arrested, but did not elaborate.

Nichols was taken into federal custody.

A crowd of people across the street from the apartment complex where Nichols was arrested cheered as a black sports utility vehicle drove away, escorted by multiple police cars with lights flashing and sirens on.

The killings came less than two weeks after a Chicago federal judge's husband and mother were slain in their home, setting off a fresh round of worries about the safety of judges and others involved in the criminal justice system.

The day before the shootings, the judge and prosecutors in Nichols' case requested extra security after investigators found a shank - or homemade knife - fashioned from a doorknob in each of Nichols' shoes, prosecutor Gayle Abramson said.

Officials did not say what measures were taken to beef up security, but said deputy Cynthia Hall was alone when she escorted Nichols to his retrial on rape and other charges Friday. Law requires that defendants not be handcuffed as they enter the courtroom to make sure the sight of cuffs doesn't unfairly influence the jury.

Nichols allegedly overpowered Hall, took her gun and shot her in the head. She remained in critical condition Saturday, but hospital officials said she was expected to survive.

Nichols then went to the courtroom where his case was being heard and allegedly killed the judge presiding over the case and a court reporter. As he escaped the courthouse, he fatally shot a deputy who confronted him, officials said.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Don O'Briant was getting out of his car when Nichols allegedly pulled a gun, demanded his keys and told him to get in the trunk.

O'Briant refused and started to run.

"I figured it was better to be shot at while I was running than to just stand there and be executed," O'Briant wrote in Saturday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The man pistol whipped him as he tried to escape. O'Briant fell, but got up and ran again.

"I scrambled into the street, waiting for the shots to come, but they didn't come," he wrote. "I guess it just wasn't my day to die."

Throughout Friday, police said they were looking for the reporter's green Honda Accord, and highway message boards across the state issued descriptions of the vehicle. But the car was found later that night in the same parking garage where Nichols stole it.

Police said Nichols attempted more hijackings, and it was suspected that Nichols had stolen another vehicle from the same parking garage. Authorities would not comment on whether Wilhelm may have been carjacked at the garage.

Ned Cronan, 73, who lives across the street from where authorities found Wilhelm's body, said he's heard gunshots in the area before, but none Friday night or Saturday morning.

"I don't think they killed him there," he said.

Nichols faced a life sentence if convicted in his retrial. His earlier trial was declared a mistrial on Monday when jurors voted 8-4 for acquittal.

He was accused of bursting into his ex-girlfriend's home with a loaded machine gun, binding her with duct tape and sexually assaulting her over three days. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Nichols brought a cooler of food in case he was hungry. Nichols claimed the pair had consensual sex.

"My guts tell me he faced a greater chance of conviction in the second trial," his attorney, Barry Hazen, told a local television station.

At the state Capitol, just down the street from the courthouse, Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson announced Nichols' arrest Saturday on the House floor as flags flew at half-staff during a rare weekend session.

"It ended the best way this could end," said Walters, the police chief. "The public can be relieved that he is off the street."


03-12-05 15:40 EST

(UNQUOTE)
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Offline Gh0stFT

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2005, 07:40:21 PM »
there is no 100% safety, as sad as it sounds.

but for sure, this guy now needs something different then a court.
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Offline Dago

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2005, 07:47:16 PM »
This is much a result and indictment of our political correctness and poor management run amok.

1)  A 5ft tall woman cannot stand up to a 6'1" , 210 lb man.  Only someone who has the brains of cabbage would have had one small woman escorting a big guy.  But, womans rights and all, we must give her the chance to die rather than risk acknowledging the differance in size, strength and capabilities between men and women in dealing with a person who would pose such a threat.

2) The guy should have been handcuffed, and if reasonable measure were in place, he would have had his handcuffs on behind his back.  Why wasn't there in place, and followed an SOP that would have had him cuffed?

The whole mess is a tragedy.  It probably could have been easily prevented with common sense and policies most law enforcement departments would normally follow.

dago
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Offline Steve

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2005, 08:21:02 PM »
Quote
5ft tall woman cannot stand up to a 6'1" , 210 lb man. Only someone who has the brains of cabbage would have had one small woman escorting a big guy. But, womans rights and all, we must give her the chance to die rather than risk acknowledging the differance in size, strength and capabilities between men and women in dealing with a person who would pose such a threat.




'nuff said.  This should about wrap up this thread.
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Offline Maverick

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2005, 08:52:55 PM »
The "law" about not having the defendant cuffed was protecting the rights of the accused. No one was protecting the rights of the deceased. Three people died so that things would "look better" for the defendant. I hope the "law" is corrected. :mad:
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Offline JB88

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2005, 10:47:54 PM »
shock collar.

fashionable of course.

:cool:
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Offline Nash

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2005, 10:55:18 PM »
People just went bat5hit this weekend, eh?

Offline Thrawn

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2005, 11:01:09 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Maverick
No one was protecting the rights of the deceased.


...what rights does a dead person have?

Offline Airhead

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2005, 11:11:25 PM »
The bottom line is you had a 5'3 inch, 170 pound female deputy escorting a 6'1, 210 pound accused into court, all in the name of gender equality- and the result is four dead.

Like it or not, as politically incorrect as it may be, there are jobs that are best handled by fit, in shape males instead of frumpy bayliffs and fat bellybutton Sheriffs deputies who get winded in a 30 yard chase.

I know it's not "fair", but tell it to God- if you aren't a physical presence you shouldn't be dealing with these perps.

Sorry to be politically incorrect, but that's the way I see it...and life trumps political correctness every time.

Offline Lazerus

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2005, 11:12:18 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Maverick
The "law" about not having the defendant cuffed was protecting the rights of the accused. No one was protecting the rights of the deceased. Three people died so that things would "look better" for the defendant. I hope the "law" is corrected. :mad:


The accused is innocent until he is found guilty. The law is, in my opinion, correct. The procedures in place to ensure that this possible criminal (for the original accusation at least) might do something like that POS did are not.

Hopefully, what he did is now court record, so there is no reason for any defense. Just let a jury review the record and punish him accordingly.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2005, 06:05:16 AM by Lazerus »

Offline Steve

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2005, 12:08:16 AM »
Quote
The procedures in place to ensure that this possible criminal (for the original accusation at least) might do something like that POS did are not.



Huh?
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Offline Lazerus

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2005, 12:13:05 AM »
Allowing a person of his physical stature to be escorted by a person of the physical stature of the deputy. That's just stupid.


Possible criminal=he hadn't been found guilty of a crime at the time. There is no doubt about his guilt now.

Offline Raubvogel

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2005, 12:14:45 AM »
I tell you what...that Nichols is one bad mother **....."Shut yer mouth!"

Offline StarOfAfrica2

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2005, 12:18:08 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Thrawn
...what rights does a dead person have?


The right to remain silent?

Offline Nash

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How Can a Guy Kill So Many in Court?
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2005, 12:25:54 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by StarOfAfrica2
The right to remain silent?


Good one.

Uhm... there must be more.

Oh, like doner cards and organs and alla that.

Plus the right not to be forced into some kind of freak sex with a shovel weilding goth chick.

Unless she was hot.