Judge Orders Nichols to Pay U.S. $14.5 Million for Oklahoma Blast

The Oklahoma City bombing judge announced Wednesday that he will order convicted conspirator Terry L. Nichols to pay the U.S. government $14.5 million in restitution and sentence the former farmhand on June 4.

“The human suffering in this case is priceless,” U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch said at a hearing to decide whether Nichols would be required to pay restitution. “There’s no way to put a price tag on it.”

The $14.5-million figure, suggested by prosecutors, was the original construction cost for the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which was destroyed by the April 19, 1995, truck bombing that killed 168 people.

Nichols, 43, was convicted in December of conspiring with former Army buddy Timothy J. McVeigh to plan the bombing. McVeigh, 30, is appealing his death sentence, imposed in a separate trial in which he was convicted of the actual bombing.

The judge has already said he was leaning toward imposing a life sentence on Nichols.

Although prosecutors and victims of the bombing argued that restitution is needed to prevent Nichols from profiting from the crime by selling his story, Matsch did not mention that issue and did not say specifically why he will require restitution to be paid. Prosecutors conceded that Nichols’ assets total no more than $40,000.