Brian Nichols timeline 2005-2008

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Photographs in a three-year timeline of gunman Brian Nichols who is convicted of murdering Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau at the Fulton County Courthouse in 2005 before escaping the facility and gunning down Deputy Sheriff Hoyt Teasley and David Wilhelm, an off-duty federal agent.

Convicted killer Brian Nichols listens during sentencing in the courtroom of Judge James Bodiford on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008. Nichols will spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole for murdering four people and brutally beating a guard, leaving her brain damaged, when he escaped custody at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 11, 2005 where he was on trial for rape. Here is a photo timeline documenting those three years.

Mortally wounded Fulton Deputy Hoyt Teasley is loaded into an ambulance outside the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta on Friday morning, March 11, 2005. Authorities said Nichols escaped from the courthouse after overpowering Deputy Cynthia Hall, then killed Judge Rowland Barnes, court stenographer Julie Ann Brandau and Teasley before gunning down Customs Agent David Wilhelm that night.

Evelyn Parker (right), a court reporter and acquaintance of Judge Barnes, cries outside the courthouse as events unfold in downtown Atlanta shortly after the March 2005 shootings.

On Sunday, March 13, 2005, Ashley Smith wipes away tears as she recounts her hostage experience with Nichols who ambushed Smith at her Duluth apartment complex. She told police where to find Nichols when he allowed her to leave the apartment 26 hours after Nichols fled the Fulton County Courthouse. She has since remarried and now goes by Ashley Robinson.

After his capture on Saturday, March 12, 2005 in Gwinnett County, Brian Nichols is escorted by ATF agents and other law enforcement personnel to a vehicle at FBI headquarters.

Fulton County Deputy Sgt. Vincent Owens (center) is comforted by fellow deputies Craig Johnson (left) and Michael Carmack, during a memorial service at the Fulton County Justice Center in Atlanta on March 14, 2005. Owens was one of the first responders.

A Fulton County color guard marches past portraits of those who were slain during a memorial observance entitled "Healing Our Hurt" in the Fulton County Government Center atrium on March 15, 2005. Family and friends of Barnes, Brandau and Teasley were in attendance.

With the help of Claudia Barnes (right), Debra Teasley makes an imprint of her husband's engraved name after a memorial service for fallen law enforcement personnel in May, 2006.

In an October, 2006 hearing, Fulton County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Borders looks at a photo during testimony. The three witnesses that testified were shown line up photos of Nichols that were used by law enforcement personnel during questioning.

At a September 2007 motion hearing in front of Superior Court Senior Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr., lawyer Robert McGlasson, defendant Brian Nichols and lawyers Jacob Sussman and Henderson Hill (left to right) listen to the prosecution's rebuttal. Fuller recused himself from the case before it went to trial.

A lone pedestrian strolls in front of the Atlanta Municipal Court Building, when the long-delayed trial starts with opening statements on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. The trial was moved here from the Fulton County Courthouse.

Christina Scholte, daughter of slain court reporter Julie Brandau, cries as she hears an audiotape of her mom's shooting during opening statements on Sept. 22, 2008.

Gayle Abramson Csehy views an image of deceased Fulton Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes as the Nichols trial entered its second day of proceedings in September 2008. Abramson Csehy admitted she used cocaine and Ecstasy when she was prosecuting Nichols on rape charges but it was ruled irrelevant to the murder trial.

In late September 2008, retired Fulton County Deputy Grantley White (right) and prosecutor Clint Rucker demonstrate how Nichols held a gun on White in the 2005 killings.

In October 2008, Ashley Robinson (formerly Ashley Smith) demonstrates to lead prosecutor Kellie Hill how she was bound by Nichols after he ambushed her in Duluth.

In October 2008, a videotape plays showing Atlanta Police homicide detective Victor Velazquez (bottom) interviewing Nichols after his surrender.

Judge James Bodiford, known as a no-nonsense judge, addresses the assistant district attorneys during the second day of questioning Atlanta Police Department homicide detective Vincent Velazquez in October 2008.

Gene Nichols, Brian Nichols' father, looks at family photos taken in happier times, as his wife, Claritha Nichols, testifies in court in late October 2008.

The normally sparsely occupied courtroom was completely filled as closing arguments were presented by both sides in early November 2008.

Kiley Barnes, daughter of Judge Barnes, dabs her eyes with a tissue as she sits with her sister Holly Ditmar (left) and victim advocate Pat Lawyer during closing arguments in early November 2008.

On Nov. 7, 2008 after two days of deliberations, Nichols listens as a jury finds him guilty on all 54 counts, including killing three people at the Fulton County courthouse and the murder of a Customs agent in March, 2005.

After the guilty verdict, the court turned its attention to sentencing Brian Nichols. Zachery Dingle, a friend of Nichols', testifies in late November 2008 in the sentencing phase of the trial, which lasted several weeks.

In early December 2008 during the penalty phase, the Teasley family reacts to a startling video showing the courtroom shortly after the shootings occurred in 2005.

Candee Wilhelm (front), widow of David Wihelm and Deborah Teasley, widow of Sgt. Hoyt Teasley, react on Friday, Dec. 12, 2008, as Bodiford reads a note from the jury saying they are split at 9-3. The split decision means Nichols could not be sentenced to die for his crimes.

The four victims are shown on a courtroom monitor in mid-December 2008. Nichols had earlier admitted killing Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, who was overseeing his rape trial, Barnes' court reporter, Julie Ann Brandau, and Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley, who pursued Nichols, on March 11, 2005. David Wilhelm, an off-duty federal agent, was gunned down during a robbery that night.

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Convicted killer Brian Nichols listens during sentencing in the courtroom of Judge James Bodiford on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008. Nichols will spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole for murdering four people and brutally beating a guard, leaving her brain damaged, when he escaped custody at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 11, 2005 where he was on trial for rape. Here is a photo timeline documenting those three years.

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