[Vision2020] CNN: More Facts for Wilson's Crackpot Views of Reality

[Art Deco]

      Chief: Hostage in Atlanta killings 'a champ'
      Suspect in court as soon as Monday
      Sunday, March 13, 2005 Posted: 6:16 PM EST (2316 GMT)
     

  
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia woman spoke of her 5-year-old daughter in a bid to win the sympathy of Brian Nichols while she was held hostage by the suspect in four killings in Atlanta, police sources told CNN.

"She was a champ," said Chief Charles Walters of Gwinnett County police.

Nichols apparently saw the woman at a convenience store where she went to buy cigarettes about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. 

He was sitting at the store in a truck police say he stole from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent David Wilhelm after shooting Wilhelm to death in the Buckhead area, about 8 miles north of downtown Atlanta.

Authorities had launched an extensive manhunt for Nichols, a defendant in a rape trial, after he allegedly killed a judge, a sheriff's deputy and court reporter before escaping from a courthouse in downtown Atlanta about 9 a.m. Friday.

About 15 hours later, Nichols, 33, followed the woman back to her apartment complex in Duluth, a suburb about 20 miles northeast of Buckhead, and forced his way in while she was entering her home, tying her up and threatening her life, police said. 

Police have released few details about the woman. Walters called it a "stranger-on-stranger incident," though police said Nichols told her who he was.

"He told her, 'If you do what I say, I won't kill you,'" said Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The woman established a relationship with Nichols "to survive," he said. 

Nichols confiscated the woman's cell phone, police said, telling her he had her friends' names and phone numbers, and threatening them as well.

She eventually was able to untie herself, and, over the hours, spoke to Nichols about her daughter, saying the child would be orphaned if anything happened to her, police sources told CNN. The child was not at the apartment during the incident.

Law enforcement sources told CNN that Nichols forced her to follow him about two miles so he could dump Wilhelm's truck, then take him back to the apartment in her car.

The woman established a rapport with Nichols, and she was eventually able to leave the apartment, police said. She dialed 911 from the complex's leasing office about 9:50 a.m., law enforcement sources said.

A police source told CNN the woman said Nichols had three weapons. 

The Gwinnett County police officer who was the first to arrive, Anthony Bassett, said the woman told police Nichols allowed her to leave.

Police described her as calm and collected when she called.

"She handled it very responsibly," Walters said.

After a SWAT team surrounded the building at the Bridgewater Apartments, Nichols surrendered. He was taken into custody about 11:24 a.m.

"He literally waved a white flag, or a T-shirt, and came out," Walters said.

"I think he saw the mass response on the media, and he made a very wise decision," said Maj. Bart Hulsey, commander of the Gwinnett County SWAT team.

Police were still investigating Nichols' actions during the hours the woman was held hostage. A search warrant was executed late Saturday at the woman's apartment, using drug-sniffing dogs.

A $60,000 reward had been posted for Nichols' capture. Authorities said Saturday they did not yet know if the woman would be eligible for that money.

Wilhelm's truck was found nearby. Authorities also recovered Wilhelm's badge and a gun thought to be his, and were checking its serial number, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said. 

Federal and state charges
Nichols will not appear in court until at least Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for northern Georgia said. 

Spokesman Patrick Crosby said in a recorded message that it could be Tuesday before Nichols faces a judge. 

Nichols will face federal and state charges, law enforcement officials said Saturday afternoon.

Authorities said he will remain in federal custody, but would not disclose where he would be held. Sources, however, told CNN that Nichols would be held in maximum security at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said his office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had filed a federal criminal complaint against Nichols, charging him with possession of a firearm by a person under indictment.

"This is essentially a holding charge that will ensure Mr. Nichols' detention while we sort out additional federal and state charges," Nahmias said.

Police said Nichols fatally shot Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Ann Brandau and sheriff's deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley on Friday morning, after overpowering deputy Cynthia Ann Hall.

Nichols took Hall's pistol while she was escorting him from a detention area, police said. He shot Hall and then went to Barnes' courtroom where he shot and killed the judge and court reporter, police said.

Hall was in critical condition Saturday at an Atlanta hospital and is expected to survive. 

Suspect escaped on mass transit
For most of the day of the courthouse shootings, authorities in Georgia and surrounding states searched for a 1997 green Honda Accord that police say Nichols stole from an Atlanta newspaper reporter in a downtown parking garage.

The car was found late Friday night in the same garage, on a level below the spot where police say Nichols took it. He had allegedly hit the reporter over the head with a pistol.

Security camera images taken Friday morning inside a stairwell in the parking deck showed a shirtless Nichols putting on a jacket, allegedly taken from the reporter, as he went to a lower level and disappeared.

The parking deck is about a five-minute walk from two subway stations. 

Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington said Nichols took a MARTA subway train north. At about 10:40 p.m. Friday, Nichols tried to rob two tourists near a subway station in northern Atlanta's popular Buckhead neighborhood, Pennington said. 

Nichols struck one of the tourists in the face and fled, Pennington said.

Police said Nichols then went to Wilhelm's home, not far south of the MARTA station. 

Wilhelm, 40, was working alone on his home, which was under construction, at the time of his slaying, said Kenneth Smith, special agent in charge of the Atlanta immigration and customs office. 

Authorities said they were still interviewing Nichols and they had not determined whether Nichols knew Wilhelm was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Nichols could be charged with a federal crime only if authorities believe he knew Wilhelm was a federal agent before Wilhelm was killed, law enforcement sources said. 

Friday, Nichols was being retried on rape, false imprisonment and other charges after a first trial ended in a hung jury the week before.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he planned to try that case to its conclusion. 

CNN's Tony Harris, Drew Griffin, KC Wildmoon, Mike Ahlers, Matt Sloane, Kathleen Johnston, Jeanne Meserve, Susan Candiotti, Mike Heard, Kimberly Osias and Mike Brooks contributed to this report.
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