NARRATOR: In the United
States of America, some of the world's most
dangerous and notorious criminals are
locked behind bars. LINA HAJI: Brian
Nichols is not only a murderer who murdered innocent
victims in a court of law. He definitely was somebody
who engaged in all kinds of different crimes. NARRATOR: While
on trial for rape, Brian Nichols went on a rampage. BARRY HAZEN: He hit her
so hard that her head went against the cinder
block wall, knocked her out. GRANTLEY WHITE: I forced
my way into the courtroom, and I saw Judge Barnes
laying with blood coming out the back of his head. NARRATOR: A prisoner who
was armed and dangerous was free and on the run. He forces his way into a
Gwinnett woman's apartment. I was concerned
because he was now out. I then called my wife
and told her to get our daughter out of school. He's just willing to mow over
anyone who gets in his way, so he's absolutely
still dangerous no matter where he is. NARRATOR: Brian Nichols
suddenly claimed the top spot in America's most wanted. REPORTER: Brian Nichols assaults
a deputy, steals her gun, then hunts down and
murders Judge Rowland Barnes and his court reporter. Outside, Deputy Hoyt
Teasley is shot and killed by Nichols on the sidewalk. NARRATOR: Even when he was
securely locked behind bars, Brian Nichols posed a serious
threat to everyone he met. BARRY HAZEN: They moved
him from place to place. They do not let the same guards
guard him for a prolonged period of time because
they don't want them to get too comfortable with him. And if he gets out, there's
no telling what he might do. [theme music] NARRATOR: Georgia Diagnostic
and Classification Prison is a maximum security facility
home to around 2,500 inmates. HECTOR BRAVO: A maximum security
prison, it's more restrictive. They have gun posts. There's more fences. The thing that makes maximum
security prisons more dangerous is that the inmates in
there usually, usually have a longer sentence,
so they've already made up their minds
that they are going to live and die in prison. That's their home. So when it does kick
off, they go all the way. They'll attempt to kill you. NARRATOR: One of the most
feared inmates kept behind bars here is mass murderer
Brian Nichols. I think he's a kind of person
that's always thinking, always analyzing, always looking
for the crack in the wall, always looking for the
light through the door. I think Brian could be
a potential escape risk. I think if Nichols
felt cornered, I think he would very
possibly kill again. He was a natural-born killer. NARRATOR: In stark contrast
to many of the world's most dangerous prisoners,
33-year-old Brian Nichols had enjoyed a good life. BARRY HAZEN: He was educated. He was employed at
a pretty good job, and apparently, he
was pretty good at it. And he was-- basically, he
was living a successful life. NARRATOR: But everything changed
when he was accused of rape and aggravated abuse
by a former girlfriend. BARRY HAZEN: He was facing
very significant jail time if he got convicted of
any number of the counts that were lodged against him. NARRATOR: Nichols' behavior in
court made everyone nervous. Before I left the
house, I remember the last thing I said
to my wife was, I don't feel safe in that courtroom. NARRATOR: Their fears were
confirmed when Nichols suddenly turned violent. BARRY HAZEN: And one of the
deputies went into the lock up with her gun. That point in time,
he hit her. he hit her so hard that her
head went against the cinder block wall, knocked her out. NARRATOR: Now on the
loose in the courthouse, Nichols went on a killing spree. Judge Barnes
wouldn't have seen him come into the main room. Brian shot Judge Barnes in
the left side of the head. NARRATOR: He then took his
rampage out onto the streets. DON O'BRIANT: There was a
house with the door open, and there was a federal agent in
there working on his bathroom. He ended up killing the man. And shortly after that it's
when he kidnapped the girl. BARRY HAZEN: Something
happened that made him go from kind
of a regular person to somebody who would
kill poor people. NARRATOR: Nichols grew up
in a middle-class family during the 1970s and '80s
in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a good student
and a talented sportsman. BARRY HAZEN: He had a
very involved family, and they were intact. They were together. So he had people who liked him. He had a body of friends. NARRATOR: At the
age of 21, Nichols was kicked off the college
football team for stealing and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Seeming to make a new start,
Nichols secured a steady job at a multinational
technology company, and he had got
himself a girlfriend. BARRY HAZEN: She was a
very successful woman. The times I spoke
with her, I found her to be very intelligent,
very articulate, very well put together. Intellectually, she had
a lot going for her. And that was a good
complement because Brian was also very intelligent. NARRATOR: In 2004, when Brian
Nichols was 32 years old, his life took a
sudden downward spiral when he was accused of rape. BARRY HAZEN: I am Barry Hazen. I'm an attorney, criminal
defense attorney, and I represented
Brian Nichols in 2004 and '05 where he was charged
with rape in Atlanta, Georgia. The woman who lodged the
complaint against Brian is a woman who had been
in a relationship with him for a number of years. They didn't live together,
but they were very much a couple in a lot of ways. I know they were talking
about getting married. NARRATOR: The relationship was
not without its difficulties, and Brian was not faithful. BARRY HAZEN: He did have
another relationship during that period of time. And there was another
woman, and she became pregnant through Brian. And that created
a lot of turmoil in Brian's relationship. NARRATOR: Brian's girlfriend
eventually left him, but Brian was not
ready to let her go. What's interesting
about rape is that people think of rape as a sex crime. And while, yes, it has a
horrific sexual component, the real driving factor
behind rape is control. And so it sounds
like, in this case, his girlfriend had
left him, which caused a void, which caused
anger, which caused resentment. So as a result of
that anger, he decided to duct tape her and rape her
and sodomized her in order to exert control
over a situation that he no longer
had control over. BARRY HAZEN: The first
time I met and saw Brian was at the Fulton County Jail. He was being held without bond. The conditions at the
Fulton County Jail were not very good
conditions at all. Of the jails I go to, I think
it probably was the least desirable place to be. HECTOR BRAVO: Inmates
that end up in county jail can be anywhere
from getting a DUI, driving under the influence,
murder, rape, molestation, robbery, armed robbery. BARRY HAZEN: We spent
probably an hour, an hour and a half talking
back and forth about the facts of the case. With clients,
sometimes you build a relationship right away. Sometimes it takes a while. But with Brian,
there was a bond. NARRATOR: Barry Hazen
knew Nichols faced significant jail time
as he had been charged with a number of offenses. BARRY HAZEN: I think
there were about six or seven counts altogether. But of course, the biggest
one was rape, which could get you a life sentence in Georgia. The aggravated assault
was very serious. That can get you up to
20 years in Georgia. The others were less,
but they were serious. He was facing very
significant jail time if he got convicted of
any number of the counts that were lodged against him. I knew it was going to
be a challenging case because any time that you have
a sex-related case, a rape case, you're walking up
hill with a rock. But I liked Brian. I found Brian to be very
intelligent, very articulate, very warm with me,
very respectful of me, and I believed that there were
sufficient facts to work with to be able to defend Brian. NARRATOR: But there was
one issue about Nichols that niggled Berry. BARRY HAZEN: I
thought that Brian was very taken with himself. I think that Brian
had perhaps certain narcissistic tendencies. I didn't think he
was mentally ill, but I thought that there
were certain issues that I needed to take note of. NARRATOR: On February 21,
2005, the trial started at Fulton County Courthouse. Despite building a strong
rapport with his client, Barry quickly noticed there were
red flags in Nichols' behavior. The first day of
trial, I think the judge was being tested by Brian. Brian immediately said he had to
go to the bathroom, I remember. And he must have been
in there for 20 minutes. And the judge was
asking, where is he? Where is he?
Where is he? What's going on here? And he ordered me to
go in there to get him. And Brian was just
standing there. And so I don't know what was
going on other than the fact that we already had a
judge that was irritated. NARRATOR: Superior court
judge, Rowland Barnes, was presiding over the hearing. GRANTLEY WHITE: He
was understanding, and he cared about people. He couldn't care if
you were rich or poor. He cared about you. Almost everybody wanted to
go in front of Judge Barnes because they know they
will be treated fair. NARRATOR: The trial
continued for five days, and throughout, Barry
was concerned about what Nichols would try next. BARRY HAZEN: I didn't feel
threatened by him at all, but I felt that he was being
kind of a pouty kid in a way, being resistive to the
authority of the court over him. NARRATOR: Despite Nichols'
provocative behavior, Barry was doing his best to
secure a positive outcome for his client. BARRY HAZEN: It went
really well for him. I mean, the the vote was
eight-four not guilty. And then there was a discussion
with the judge and the district attorney, myself. NARRATOR: It was a hung jury. The prosecutors
wanted a retrial, but judge Barnes was not keen. BARRY HAZEN: The judge did
not want to retry the case. He wanted them to let it go. And it was a fateful decision
for him, throwing up his hand and saying, OK, then
we'll retry it on Monday. NARRATOR: The prospect of
sitting alongside Brian Nichols again for the retrial
made Barry nervous. BARRY HAZEN: I thought that
danger was a possibility. Something was up. I wasn't sure what it was. I didn't know if he
had anything planned, but I thought the mind was
spinning at that point in time. I thought we could
have a problem. NARRATOR: Early morning on
March 7, 2005, the retrial of 33-year-old Brian
Nichols for the offenses, including the rape and battery
of his former girlfriend, began. GRANTLEY WHITE: My
name is Grantley White. I was a sergeant with the Fulton
County Sheriff's Department and a bailiff for
Judge Rowland Barnes on the Brian Nichols case. At the courthouse, you are
controlling the courtroom. You are bringing inmates
in front of the judge. Brian Nichols is very quiet,
always carrying a Bible. He didn't give any problems. He complied with
whatever you tell him. NARRATOR: Nichols appeared
to behave himself. That was until day
four when Judge Barnes made a shocking discovery. BARRY HAZEN: The judge
called us into chambers, and he was very angry, which
is unusual for Judge Barnes. He was such an easy-going man. He had a manila
folder, and he tossed the folder across the desk
almost at me, like, an anger. And the picture slid
out of the folder. There were two photographs. And he said, here, this is what
we found in your client's shoes yesterday. They looked like hinges
without the spindles because they had holes in them. And you could see they
had been sharpened. They'd been scraped. We found out later
that it was the frame from the light fixture in his
cell that he had taken apart. And he had two of those
planks, one in each shoe. That's when I thought,
oh, wait a minute. We're going beyond
being resistance here. Something's not right. There was a threat. He had crossed the line with me. NARRATOR: While
Barry could never have imagined what his
client would do next, the judge was evidently nervous. BARRY HAZEN: The tension level
on that Thursday was high. The judge seemed concerned. The judge said we need to
get things off the table that he can use. For instance, they have
these little plastic disks that you run wires through. The judge ordered those
removed from the table. He ordered the water pitchers
removed from the table so they couldn't be
used as a weapon. The judge actually said we need
more beef in the courtroom. That's the way he put it. I remember looking
back to see if there was going to be more beef. And they had the same
middle-aged woman deputy about 30 feet
behind him, and she wasn't going to be any help. And so I became concerned. And then the judge, he put his
hand on my shoulder and said, you need to stay
alert because you're sitting right next to him. NARRATOR: On the final
day of the retrial, Nichols was, as usual, being
held in Fulton County Jail until proceedings began. In the courthouse, Grantley
White was the bailiff assigned to Judge Barnes that day. GRANTLEY WHITE: I always,
every morning before the court, starts to pray for protection
to God to protect me. This is the first time I
have given an interview about what happened. It's hard to talk about it. On March the 11th,
2005, the last day for the trial of Brian Nichols,
I asked the judge if I can go-- if I can get breakfast,
and he said, yes. He was just talking to
attorneys about their fee, and he felt safe that
nothing would happen. BARRY HAZEN: And
Nichols was there from Rice Street,
Fulton County Jail, by then each morning
to the courthouse. And there was a sally
port kind of on the back of the courthouse where
they bring prisoners in. They don't come in
through the main entrance. And they're brought
up in an elevator, a secured elevator, to whatever
floor the courtroom is on. And then he'd be
escorted into that. Before I left the
house, I remember the last thing I
said to my wife was, I don't feel safe
in that courtroom. Up until the day before,
I had no problem with it. I knew he was being a
problem for other people, but I didn't really think
he was a physical threat. But suddenly, I did. NARRATOR: At 8:45 AM,
Nichols had been transferred from Fulton County
Jail to a holding cell located in the new building
of Fulton County Courthouse. GRANTLEY WHITE: There's always
risks involved when an inmate comes to court on a jury trial. He's brought upstairs to
change into civilian clothes. You open the door and then
you remove the handcuffs from the inmate and place them
in their holding cell, which is very risky because
most problems happen when you removing the
handcuffs from inmates. NARRATOR: Nichols was being
escorted into the court by a female deputy. He took pride in
being a ladies' man and being able to charm people. The deputy, she liked him. She actually told me,
this guy is innocent. So she felt that-- you know, she
was forming a kinship with him. NARRATOR: The deputy had
built a trust with Nichols and had let down her guard. And one of the deputies went
into the lockup with a gun. At that point in
time, he hit her. Hit her so hard that her head
went against the cinder block wall, knocked her out. He took her key. But now he also can
put on civilian clothes and he's got a gun and
then calmly walked across that bridge from
the new building into the old building
where Judge Barnes is. As I turn the corner
to go down the hallway, I saw a person with
a gun in their hand. Then I recognize it
was Brian Nichols. He didn't shoot me
right away, so I figured he didn't want to kill me. So I decided I see
if I can talk to him, and I asked him
what he was doing. And he kept saying,
don't do anything. Don't do anything, sir. Don't do anything. And I tried to tell him there's
no reason for him to do it. He said, it's too late for that. NARRATOR: Rather
than make his escape, it appeared that
Nichols had a plan and was intent on vengeance
and took Grantley hostage. GRANTLEY WHITE: And he put the
gun to the back of my head, and he took my gun. He walked me into
the judge's office. And when I walked
through the door, I saw there were
some of the folks that worked for the judge. Then Brian Nichols said to
me, handcuff these folks. I didn't want to do it. One of the ladies
said, please, Grantley, please, do what he say. Then he said, handcuff yourself. Brian Nichols threw
the handcuffs at me, and I look at it, and
I saw blood on them. I knew it belongs to my
deputy because her name was engraved on. The thought ran through my
mind that he had killed her. I handcuffed myself, and
I tried to make them loose so maybe I can get
out of them because I knew that under the judge's
desk was a duress button. As I stand over by the
desk, I thought to myself, how am I going to do this? So I decided to
fake a heart attack and fell down on my knees. And as I fell down on my
knees, I pushed the button underneath the judge's desk. NARRATOR: Central control
responded to the alarm call, but Nichols was ready and
reported all was well. But operators sensed
something was very wrong. One of the sergeants in the
central control knew my voice and said that's
not White, that's not Sergeant White's voice. Then I heard one of the ladies
say, sergeant, he's gone. He's gone. NARRATOR: While Grantley
grabbed his radio to tell central control
what had just happened, Nichols was tracking
down his first kill. BARRY HAZEN: He
then calmly walked into judge Barnes's chambers. Remember, Judge Barnes is on
the bench on the divorce case. He walks into chambers,
unlocked door, and then goes from chambers
into the courtroom. Judge Barnes wouldn't have seen
him come into the main room. And just immediately,
Brian turned to his right, Shot Judge Barnes
in the left side of the head. When Julie Brandau, the court
reporter, turned around, he shot her and then
left the courtroom through the main door. NARRATOR: Grantley
had heard the gunshots and ran to the courtroom. GRANTLEY WHITE: I forced
my way into the courtroom, and I saw Judge Barnes
laying by his desk with blood coming out the back of his head. And I saw Julie. It's was then that
a bunch of deputies grabbed me and pulled
me out of the courtroom. NARRATOR: Nichols was
making his bolt for freedom. He then went down the
stairs, and one of the deputies went running after him. NARRATOR: Having shot the
judge and the court reporter, Brian Nichols began his escape
from the county courthouse. LINA HAJI: Nichols
targeted the judge because he really believed
the judge was probably responsible for his fate. While the judge may have been
responsible for having finding him guilty or not guilty
and imposing sentence, what Nichols is unable
to process in his mind is that it's not ultimately the
judge's fault. It's his fault. He's the one that chose
to engage in the rape. He's the one that chose
to engage in the violence. He's the one that
got himself arrested. But he's unable to take
accountability for his actions. NARRATOR: Nichols was trying
to escape the courthouse but was being chased down. BARRY HAZEN: He got down
to the bottom floor, and when the deputy
came running after him through the door, shot the
deputy also, Deputy Teasley. I thought in my mind that
maybe a deputy had shot Brian Nicholas but he had shot one
of the deputies that proceeded down the stairs behind him. It was horrible. It was a horrible day. NARRATOR: As 43-year-old
father of two, Hoyt Teasley, lay dying, Nichols
went on the run. LINA HAJI: It really shows
not only the level of savagery and sadism that Nichols was
willing to go to in order to gain his freedom in
a way that was clearly never going to work
long-term but also his lack of accountability. What makes Nichols such
a dangerous prisoner is that he's willing to go
to really great lengths to get his needs met. That's just the
way Nichols thinks. There's no other way
for him to escape threat other than violence. NARRATOR: Unaware of his
client's killing spree, Defense Attorney Barry Hazen
was making his way to the courthouse to get
ready for the 9:15 start. BARRY HAZEN: As I'm walking to
the courthouse, I heard sirens. Maybe four or five seconds
after I heard them, these cars were whizzing
past me, police cars whizzing past me to the courthouse. And then I saw
deputies pouring out of the courthouse from
different exits, guns drawn. And I knew. I just knew that it
had to involve Brian. One of the deputies, who I
know, came running up the street and shoved me into a storefront
and said, you're in danger. Your client has just
shot Judge Barnes. I was concerned
because he was now out. I then called my wife and told
her to get our daughter out of school and do not go home. If he was looking
for revenge, I don't know how he felt about me, but
it was a pretty tense time. I mean, we didn't know where
he was or what he might do. NARRATOR: Intent
on evading justice, Nichols turned his attention
to getting out of Atlanta. DON O'BRIANT: In 2005, I
was working at "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution." I was a featured reporter,
and it was a good job. I parked in the usual
spot I always parked, and I usually got there
around 9:30 or so. I didn't have the radio
on, so I didn't hear any news of what was going on. It just seemed like
another ordinary day. So I locked my car and
was about to leave when the SUV pulled in beside me. Nice looking Black man
with no shirt said, do you know how to
get to Lenox Square? Which is a local shopping mall. Being polite, I started
giving him direction. He got out of the car
and walked around. I didn't think anything about
it until he pulled the gun. NARRATOR: Don was the
fourth person Nichols had confronted since escaping. He was completely unaware
the man holding the gun was a multiple murderer. DON O'BRIANT: When he said, give
me your keys, I said to myself, this is a carjacking. Just stay calm, give him the
keys, and he'll drive off and that's it. But then when he took my
keys and unlocked the trunk, he told me to get in. I knew this was
serious business. He was giving orders
like a drill instructor. He was not erratic. He was amazingly calm. He was just upset that I
wouldn't follow his directions. We kind of stared at each
other for a few minutes, and he said, get in the trunk. I'll kill you. I shook my head, and he crept
closer and glared at me, and he said, get in the
trunk or I'll shoot you. And after I refused
to get into the trunk, he ended up hitting me
over my eye, and I fell. And then I scrambled to my
feet and ran out this way. This was the most terrifying
thing that ever happened. I had never had a
gun pointed at me. I had never been threatened. But I think I was reasonably
calm considering the situation. And I went two
blocks up that way and ran into a fellow reporter,
and he told me there had been a shooting at the courthouse. The judge had been killed,
two other people shot. And he said it sounds
like the same guy, and he said there
were police put down a block interviewing people. And so I went there, told
me what had happened, described my green
Honda that he had taken. And then I went to
the medical center to get my wrist fixed
and my eyes stitched. And that was my morning so far. NARRATOR: While law
enforcement were desperately trying to locate
Nichols, the scene at Fulton County Courthouse
was one of devastation. It still affects
me up to this day. It's hard to talk about it. Judge Barnes was
not only a judge. He was my friend. Julie was special. She was really kind. Julie made sure that the jury
had a cake every morning. She was really, really nice. BARRY HAZEN: Julie
Brandau, she was warm and wonderful and friendly. It went with Judge Barnes. His chambers was a place of if
you had some time between cases and you wanted to
hang out somewhere, you could go there and just
sit there and eat popcorn, have a cup of coffee. He didn't have a
lock on his door. All the other judges did. His was wide open. And Julie Brandau had
that attitude also. She was just this
really nice person. NARRATOR: As Atlanta Police
Department took over the crime scene, officers
had no idea where Nichols was and offered
a substantial reward for information. What he had done was to
drive my car up one level, backed it into
the parking space, taken my navy blazer
out of the car and put it on, walked
across to the MARTA, the mass transit system, took
the train to Lenox Square. NARRATOR: With
Nichols now the focus of one of the biggest manhunts
America had ever seen, police were unaware
he was just 7 miles away in the streets around
the Lenox Square shopping mall. 13 hours on from his first
kill, he was about to take another innocent life. He was looking for a
place to hide or whatever. And there was a house
with the door open, and there was a federal agent in
there working on his bathroom. NARRATOR: The crime spree
continued with Nichols shooting and killing US
customs agent, David Wilhelm, at his home. He then steals his pickup
truck, badge, and pistol. It was a pretty tense time. I mean, we didn't know where
he was or what he might do. What we did find out is that
he committed another killing that night where he shot the
federal Marshal, which is about a half a mile from my house. NARRATOR: With the murder of
off-duty federal agent, David Wilhelm, freshly in his
wake, Nichols headed 30 miles north to Gwinnett County. BARRY HAZEN: I was asked to
come down to downtown Atlanta. They wanted to film a request
for him to turn himself in. And all of a sudden, a
driver gets in the van and a reporter gets in
the van, and we take off. And he says, oh, he's
in Gwinnett County. I'm just sitting in this
van at this point in time. I'm like a prisoner in this. NARRATOR: At around
2:00 AM, Ashley Smith was unpacking her new
apartment when she headed out briefly to buy cigarettes. On her return, Nichols was
waiting in the shadows. Placing a gun to
her back, he forced his way in to her apartment. REPORTER: He forces his way into
a Gwinnett woman's apartment. A SWAT team surrounds Nichols. NARRATOR: Having killed
four innocent people in a murderous rampage,
alleged rapist, Brian Nichols, was on the run. He had reached a town 30 miles
north of downtown Atlanta. LINA HAJI: A lot of
people high on psychopathy actually tend to
be very impulsive and not engage in
long-term thinking. And those four people
were in his way, and so it was a means to an end. NARRATOR: Nichols was aware
the police were on his trail and had taken a hostage,
single mom Ashley Smith. Ashley Smith had managed
to stay alive by gaining the trust of Nichols, spending
the night talking about God and forgiveness. REPORTER: They believe
there is a hostage situation going on right now. This is in Duluth, Georgia. It's about 15 miles north
of the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta
where we know three people were killed yesterday. NARRATOR: Ashley had
made Nichols breakfast and encouraged the killer
to turn himself in. He refused. At around 9:15
AM, Ashley managed to persuade Nichols to let
her go and see her daughter. As soon as she was in
the car, she dialed 911. Police quickly
surrounded the area. We're about maybe over 150
feet from where he was perhaps. And this apartment
was surrounded. And I thought, if
he doesn't come out, they're going to kill him. But fortunately, he
waved a white shirt, and then they swarmed him. And he was just covered. You couldn't even see him
at that point in time. He did ask for me
to come talk to him. I declined. My attitude was that I
represented him on a rape case. I was not representing
him on a murder case, especially given
the fact that I knew the people who he had killed. I knew Judge Barnes. I knew Julie Brandau and
there's no way I could do that. NARRATOR: As the city
of Atlanta emerged from a 26-hour
lockdown, Brian Nichols was securely locked away, once
again at Fulton County Jail. When a person commits a
crime out on the streets, they get arrested. They go to the police
department to get processed, and then they'll
go to county jail. That's where they'll take
away their belongings, dress them out in inmate
attire, and fingerprint them, book them. And they wait there until they
get scheduled to go to prison. NARRATOR: Just under
two months later, Nichols was indicted by a Fulton
County grand jury on 54 counts. Citing mental health issues,
Nichols pleaded not guilty. He may have planned
these murders in order to get the death penalty. It seems more like
his goal was just to escape the courthouse,
just to escape prison and not think much
about the future. NARRATOR: While awaiting
trial at Fulton County Jail, Nichols attempted to enlist
two sheriff's deputies while plotting an escape. It is safe to assume
that every inmate wants to escape from prison. I would say some personality
traits of somebody attempting to escape or wanting
to escape would be maybe growing out their hair one
day or cutting it to the next to be able to
disguise themselves as they attempt to flee, getting
physically fit so that they are able to run or walk
multiple miles, learning the layout of the
surrounding areas and towns, maybe acquiring a map,
a compass, a cell phone to aid them in an escape. Those are the type ones that
are kind of smart with it. NARRATOR: Deemed a
high-security risk, Nichols was moved to
DeKalb County Jail. He remained here for two years. Until on July 10, 2008,
Nichols murder trial began. He maintained his plea of not
guilty by reason of insanity. DON O'BRIANT: Well, it was
actually the first time I'd been a witness in
a trial, especially when I was involved with it. And it was-- I was very nervous. They asked me to point
him out in the courtroom. That's when I had
flashback because I knew I was going to have
to tell the story again. The image flashed through
my mind about everything. And yeah, I know I wouldn't want
to be in the same room with him again. I actually broke
down on the stand. Nichols was sitting with
the attorneys next to him. I kept looking at him. I kept staring at him. I could not help but stare
at him, such an evil person. It was hard because of the loss
of my friends, judge, Julie, deputies. Something I would never forget. I live with it for
the rest of my life. NARRATOR: In an
incredible turn of events, it transpired that
Nichols had killed the man about to give him his freedom. About six months
after the shooting, I got a telephone call from
an attorney who told me that the night
before the shooting that he had a conversation with
Judge Barnes about the case. Judge Barnes told
him he was going to cut Brian Nichols
free by granting a motion for directed
verdict of acquittal. If the defense thinks there's
not enough evidence legally for a jury to even find somebody
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it's a legal
issue, it's insufficient, you can make a motion for a
directed verdict of acquittal. So Brian killed the person that
was going to cut him loose. The case would not have
even gone to the jury. Brian was going to go home. NARRATOR: The jury deliberated
for 12 hours over two days before finding Nichols
guilty of four counts of murder and 50 other charges. Sentenced to multiple
life sentences with no chance of
parole, Nichols was spared the death
penalty when the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision. DON O'BRIANT: I think two or
three people voted against it. But it all depends
on who the jury is. If someone looks--
they say looks like a killer, looks
like a horrible person, they're more likely to do that. But he looked like an
ordinary, middle-class guy. They blamed it on something
mental, not the fact that he was a
natural-born killer. GRANTLEY WHITE: Yes, I was
pleased with the verdict because he's got a
long time to think. He was given over 200 years. I think him being in prison is
worse than the death penalty. It should be. NARRATOR: Sentenced to four
consecutive life sentences, Nichols was incarcerated
in Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison. With a history of escape
attempts and plots, Nichols remains a high-security
risk to those guarding him. BARRY HAZEN: My
understanding is they move him from place to place. They do not let the same guards
guard him for a prolonged period of time because
they don't want them to get too comfortable with him. Like, that they move him around. Different people
interact with him because he's considered to
be a high-security risk, and I believe he is. I think if he felt
cornered, I think he would very possibly kill again. GRANTLEY WHITE: Brian Nichols
is a person you cannot trust. He is a wolf in sheep clothing. NARRATOR: Nichols rap sheet,
which features the deaths of so many law enforcement
officials, has given him kudos with other prisoners. HECTOR BRAVO:
Reputation in prison is pretty much everything. So if a suspect committed
a crime out on the streets, would it carry over the
reputation inside a prison? That all depends
on the notoriety. Did it make the news? Was the person that the crime
was committed against, was it a police officer? So depending on who the victim
was and the circumstances of the crime, absolutely
that reputation carry inside the prison. BARRY HAZEN: My guess is he's
probably got a bit of notoriety in there, in the
prison population. If you don't have
much in prison, you try to garner what
little you do have. He'll die there
unless he escapes. NARRATOR: One thing remains
clear to all involved in this case, Brian Nichols is
still one of the world's most evil prisoners. The impact of
what he had done, he had taken a judge
everyone liked. He took a court reporter,
a beautiful person. He took a deputy life,
a deputy who would be there for you any time. He impact so many
people's lives, all the families of the victims. No one would ever be the same. [theme music]
