Nichols’ Bomb Trial Set; Prosecutors Shift Lineup

The trial of Terry L. Nichols, the second defendant in the Oklahoma City bombing, will begin Sept. 29, it was announced here Thursday, just as the Department of Justice in Washington revealed that it has reshaped its team of government prosecutors.

Nichols and his former Army buddy, Timothy J. McVeigh, were indicted two years ago in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people and injured more than 500. McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to death earlier this month. The case against Nichols is considered more complex and harder to prove.

Michael E. Tigar, Nichols’ chief defense attorney, said he still has not decided whether to ask that the trial be moved out of Denver because of the saturation media coverage during the two-month McVeigh trial.

He also said several other key issues remain to be resolved before the Nichols trial begins, such as the number of expert witnesses and the nature of testimony from witnesses at the scene.

Tigar is building his defense on the premise that his client was home in Kansas at the time of the blast and that Nichols was unwittingly used by McVeigh to further his bombing preparations.

Larry Mackey, an assistant U.S. attorney who helped convict McVeigh and now will lead the government’s team against Nichols, responded that prosecutors are ready to prove Nichols guilty. “We look forward to the opportunity to square off inside the courtroom,” he said.

Mackey will replace Joseph H. Hartzler as the government team leader. Hartzler returned to his family in Illinois following the end of the McVeigh trial earlier this month. Also leaving the government team will be Scott Mendeloff, who is returning to Chicago to enter private practice.

Patrick M. Ryan, the U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City who handled issues involving victims in the McVeigh trial, is still deciding whether to stay on for the Nichols case.