Jury selection begins in Nichols bombing trial

Defense attorney Michael Tigar was turned down when he argued it was no longer possible to find an impartial jury in Colorado.

Despite the difficulty of finding an impartial jury, Denver defense attorney Scott Robinson said many people still don't know Nichols.

"In reality, Nichols' role in the bombing is largely unknown to the great unwashed public," Robinson said.

And prosecutors have been able to keep the most damaging information about Nichols - his own 9 1/2-hour statement after he turned himself in to police - mostly secret.

Attorneys and Matsch will select the panel of jurors from a pool of 500 prospects. The process is expected to last two weeks to a month, officials said.

The prospective jurors already have filled out a lengthy questionnaire; their responses are sealed.

Nichols was indicted two years ago on charges of conspiracy, use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing federal property and murdering eight federal law enforcement officers in the line of duty, all punishable by the death penalty. Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the same charges.

Nichols' attorneys say he didn't know about the bombing ahead of time and cooperated with investigators after he turned himself in. And they say he was home at Herington, Kan., when the bomb went off at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people and injuring more than 500 others.

The explosion occurred on the second anniversary of the government's deadly siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in which about 80 people died. Prosecutors have said McVeigh and Nichols planned the bombing to avenge those deaths.

According to Time, Nichols said McVeigh was much more "hyped" about Waco than he was.

Prosecutors say Nichols played a key role, acquiring ammonium nitrate fertilizer and other bomb components, robbing a firearms dealer to finance the purchase of a racing fuel and the getaway car, and helping McVeigh steal explosives from a quarry.

They also say Nichols helped McVeigh stash the getaway car in Oklahoma City three days before the blast.

Robinson said Tigar will first try to show that Nichols didn't know McVeigh was planning to bomb the building, but if the evidence proves differently he'll argue in the penalty phase that Nichols wanted out.

Michael Fortier, Nichols' former Army buddy, testified during McVeigh's trial that McVeigh asked him to take part in the conspiracy because "Terry wanted out and Terry did not want to mix the bomb." Fortier said he refused to help.

Fortier pleaded guilty in a plea bargain and faces a 23-year sentence for running stolen weapons that federal agents believed helped finance the bombing.

"The only real battle will be over Terry Nichols' life," Robinson said. "If Michael Tigar can save Terry Nichols' life, it will be a major accomplishment."

Paul Heath, who survived the bombing and helped a wounded co-worker down the stairs of the shattered federal building, said victims will be back in the courtroom to see that justice is done.

"For me, they got the three people charged in this criminal act. McVeigh was found guilty, and Fortier is facing jail time," Heath said.

"It's going to be hard for Terry Nichols to argue he was not part of a conspiracy," Heath said. "They targeted me for murder in that building. Now it's up to a jury to decide."

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