Brian Gene Nichols

Brian Gene Nichols (born December 10, 1971 in Baltimore , Maryland ) is an American violent criminal who started the largest hunt in the history of the state of Georgia by violently escaping from a courthouse . After a spectacular 26-hour escape, he was finally caught. He was sentenced to several life imprisonment for the murder of a judge, a clerk, a deputy sheriff and a customs officer with no prospect of pardon.

Escape from the court

Brian Gene Nichols was tried in Atlanta District Court on March 11, 2005 for rape and violent hostage of his ex-girlfriend . Nichols, who already had several criminal records, faced life imprisonment.

When he was taken from the waiting area to a holding cell and the police officer accompanying him removed the handcuffs so he could change, he overpowered the officer and severely injured her with fist blows. He then took her service weapon, key ring, and radio and locked her in a cell. He then entered Judge Rowland Barnes' private quarters. A police officer who happened to be passing by was also overpowered, handcuffed and disarmed by Nichols in the scuffle. After he had found the judge, he killed him and the present clerk Julie Brandau with headshots. He managed to escape from the building via an emergency exit, where he shot and killed police officer Hoyt Teasley who was chasing him.

Escape through Atlanta

That same evening, he was named the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives , and a reward of $ 65,000 was offered for clues leading to his capture. In the meantime, Nichols had ambushed a police officer in his private vehicle and forced him to get out. He drove his vehicle a few streets further and parked the vehicle in a parking garage. He then forced the driver of a tow truck to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint and drove on with his vehicle. On a one-way street, he jumped out of the car and ran into a parking garage, where he forced a woman to get out of her car. When he tried to lock her in the trunk, she escaped. He drove the woman's car into the parking lot of a supermarket and there appropriated a jeweler’s vehicle, which he took to another parking garage near the CNN center . There he stopped a reporter in his vehicle and forced him into the trunk at gunpoint. When the latter refused, Nichols knocked him down and drove on with his car. He took a woman hostage on Lenox Road and forced her to take him to her apartment. Once there, he was surprised by the woman's friend who attacked Nichols. In the course of the scuffle, the woman was able to call the police. However, Nichols was able to overwhelm the man, knock them down and flee. Shortly afterwards he broke into an unlocked house on Canter Road and shot the customs officer David Wilhelm. Then he took his service weapon and drove on with the officer's pickup truck.

Arrest and conviction

At the Bridgewater Apartments , he took a woman hostage, who however managed to win the perpetrator's trust by the next morning. In an unobserved moment, she managed to call the police, who then surrounded the building with a large number of people. Unexpectedly for everyone, Nichols came out of the building shortly afterwards with his hands up and a white cloth and allowed himself to be arrested without resistance.

The trial against him began on May 5, 2005. On December 15, 2008, he was found guilty of all 54 charges and sentenced to 11 life imprisonment and an additional 485 years in prison with no prospect of early release.

Web links

• http://www.nndb.com/people/686/000092410/