Saturday, March 12, 2005, 12:24 A.M. Pacific
Slain judge had sought protection against suspect
By Seattle Times news services
ATLANTA The judge who was slain along with two other court workers yesterday had asked for extra security after the shooting suspect had signaled his violent intentions two days earlier.
Prosecutors and Judge Rowland Barnes, one of the people Brian Nichols is accused of killing in an Atlanta courthouse, had asked for the extra courtroom security after the 33-year-old rape suspect was found to be concealing two handmade weapons, known as shanks, in his shoes as he returned to lockup after court Wednesday.
As a precaution, Barnes had called a special security meeting among all lawyers in the case and two additional deputies were on hand in court Thursday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said.
A massive manhunt swept the Southeast yesterday as officers searched for Nichols, accused of overpowering a sheriff's deputy and then using her gun to kill the judge, a court stenographer and a second deputy who had chased the alleged assailant into the street.
The killings, 11 days after a Chicago federal judge's husband and mother were slain in their home, set off a fresh round of worries about the safety of judges, prosecutors and others involved in the criminal-justice system. An average of 700 threats against judicial officials are logged each day, the U.S. Marshals Service says.
Howard said threats made by the suspect before the shootings were part of the routine drumbeat of jailhouse chatter.
Accused of attacking ex-girlfriend
Nichols, a former computer technician, was charged with breaking into his ex-girlfriend's house and raping and sodomizing her repeatedly over a three-day period. Howard said Nichols brought a loaded machine gun and a cooler full of food and drinks into the woman's house and told her he would continue to assault her until her birthday. He did just that, Howard said, adding that four of Nichols' friends turned him into police.
Nichols' first trial ended in a mistrial, and he had told people, "I'm not going to go lying down," when he learned that he would be retried. Howard said Nichols might have been upset because the second trial was not going well for him. Jailed since August, he could have faced life imprisonment.
"I think he probably realized ... he might be convicted this time, he might not have a chance to walk out," Howard said. "We believe he came here with the intent to make sure that didn't happen."
According to authorities, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Nichols was in a holding area of the courthouse early yesterday, changing into the civilian attire he would wear to trial. Before Deputy Cynthia Hall, the only officer guarding Nichols at that time, could reattach his handcuffs, Nichols grabbed her gun. He shot her in the head and took her keys so he could escape from the locked holding zone.
Hall is hospitalized in critical condition but is expected to survive.
Authorities said Nichols left the holding area, in a new tower of the courthouse, crossed a catwalk and went into the older tower that housed Barnes' courtroom. A civil trial was in progress, with "over a dozen people [present]," Deputy Police Chief Alan Dreher said.
Barnes, 64, was shot in the head. He and stenographer Julie Ann Brandau, 43, died in the courtroom.
Nichols then descended eight floors and slipped out of the courthouse.
He was chased by Hoyt Teasley, a 19-year sheriff's deputy. Teasley died in front of the courthouse from a single wound in his abdomen.
Nichols is believed to have carjacked at least one vehicle before pulling into a downtown garage. He parked in a handicapped spot adjacent to a space where newspaper reporter Don O'Briant was parking his 1997 green Honda Accord.
O'Briant, 62, said Nichols first asked for directions. "Then he pulled a gun and said: 'Give me your keys or I'll kill you!' "
O'Briant complied, but balked when Nichols ordered him to get into the trunk. When he turned to run, Nichols hit him in the head with the gun, O'Briant said.
"When he had the gun in my face, you start to think, 'How can I stay alive.' I thought this was a routine carjack. I didn't know two other people were killed," O'Briant said.
Intensive manhunt begun Police and sheriff's deputies, working with federal and state law-enforcement officers, launched helicopters, prowled highways and alerted authorities in neighboring states. Schools, restaurants and office buildings across the city went into lockdown, and highway message boards issued descriptions of the stolen vehicle. The courthouse was described as chaotic as hundreds of people were ushered into secure courtrooms or holding areas.
As afternoon wore into evening, however, officials said the suspect could be anywhere.
Police later reported that O'Briant's hijacked car had been found in a downtown parking lot, not far from where it was stolen.
"We are not going to rest until we have him in custody," Dreher said. Officials offered a $60,000 reward for information leading to Nichols' arrest.
John Matteson, a lawyer who was on a lower floor when the shooting occurred, said an attack was bound to happen because of a shortage of courtroom deputies.
"They just don't have the manpower to deal with it," Matteson said. "They're good folks, but they're pushed to the limit."
Barnes was one of the most popular figures in the Atlanta judicial system.
"He was enjoyed by all who knew him, respected and loved, yes, you can definitely say that," attorney David Wolfe said. "Anyone who ever came in contact long enough to know him personally felt the same way. Take out the Atlanta phone book and call every lawyer, they will say the same thing."
James Bailey, a juror at Nichols' trial, said the jury was not in the courtroom at the time of the shootings. He said Nichols had made him and other jurors nervous. "Every time he looked up, he was staring at you," Bailey said.
LINK:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002205244_courthouse12.html