High security as man accused of murdering judge returns to court

SHACKLED and surrounded by 19 officers in a cinder-block jail room, the suspect in a rampage that left a judge and three others dead appeared before a magistrate yesterday and was informed that authorities plan to charge him with murder.

Brian Nichols appeared before Cobb County Magistrate Frank Cox on the same rape charge that he was on trial for on Friday when he escaped from another courthouse.

Nichols spoke only once at the hearing, when Mr Cox asked him if he had any questions. “Not at this time,” he said.

Officers lined the walls of the room during yesterday’s hearing. Authorities in Atlanta, Georgia, said Nichols had been alone with a female deputy on Friday when he stole her gun and then allegedly shot dead the judge and two others. He also is accused of killing a federal agent as he eluded police.

During the five-minute hearing, Nichols looked straight ahead and did not make eye contact with anyone in the room.

Mr Cox was brought in to hear the case after all the judges in Fulton County excused themselves because of their relationships with Judge Rowland Barnes and the other victims.

Assistant District Attorney Michele McCutcheon informed Mr Cox that the state will pursue four charges of murder against him. Nichols was held without bond and no future court hearings were set.

In addition to 19 officers lining the walls of the room, several more blocked the hall outside. While everyone entering the jail must pass through a metal detector, everyone entering the hearing room was also searched by a handheld metal detector.

Defence attorney Chris Adams told reporters after the hearing “this is a time of grief and mourning” for the courthouse community.

Officials declared a mistrial in Nichols’ second rape trial on Monday. His first trial was also a mistrial.

The prosecutors in those trials said Nichols lashed out because he believed the jury was going to convict him in the second. If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

After being the focus of a 26-hour manhunt, the largest in Georgia history, Nichols was arrested on Saturday morning at an apartment complex where he had taken a woman hostage, who he freed hours later.

An immigration agent, David Wilhelm, was also allegedly killed in the course of Nichols’ escape.

His pickup truck, pistol and badge were taken.