Brian Nichols, the Fulton County courthouse shooter imprisoned for the murders of four people in March 2005, has spoken to Channel 2 Action News from prison – the first public statements he has made.
During one of a series of exclusive telephone interviews, WSB-TV reporter Mark Winne asks Nichols to explain why he committed the murders.
"I can't even begin to make sense or answer questions about why I did something that was wrong, that was irrational," he replies.
But Nichols did not shy away from admitting to his crimes.
“Oh, no. Absolutely not,” Nichols says. “I've never denied it… . In doing an interview with you, there will be nothing that I want from that really other than to express my remorse you know for the things that I’ve done.”
Winne reports that the state Department of Corrections would not permit the station to take a camera inside the prison in Jackson. So WSB-TV relied on a series of phone conversations with Nichols through an intermediary. Nichols called the woman at pre-arranged times, and she would put her phone on speaker so the TV crew could relay questions through her and listen to Nichols’ responses.
In March 2005, Nichols escaped from the Fulton County courthouse in the midst of his rape trial by overpowering a guard and taking her gun. He then killed Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, Sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley and, later, while on the run, federal agent David Wilhelm.
Nichols’ defense at the time was that he was delusional, believing that he was a slave, one of his attorneys said at trial.
“It took me a long time to realize I was delusional,” he told WSB-TV recently.
At trial, prosecutor Clint Rucker said: “He’s not mentally ill. He’s not delusional. But he lies.”
Nichols told Channel 2 that he was a prodigious marijuana user before he was arrested.
“Nobody smoked more weed than I did at the time,” Nichols said.
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