Court Shooting Spree Suspect Gets Hearing

Shackled and ringed by sheriff’s deputies, the man accused of killing a judge and three others appeared before a magistrate judge Tuesday, where a prosecutor said Brian Nichols would be charged with murder in the shooting rampage.

Because every judge in Fulton County had a relationship with one or more of the victims, Nichols, 33, appeared before Magistrate Judge Frank R. Cox, from neighboring Cobb County. Cox ordered Nichols held without bail on an earlier rape charge and did not set a date for his next hearing.

A subdued, expressionless Nichols spoke once, when Cox asked him during the brief hearing at the Fulton County jail if he had any questions.

“Not at this time,” Nichols said.

According to authorities, Nichols overpowered the lone female deputy guarding him Friday, knocking her unconscious. He then took her gun, officials said, and shot the judge and a court reporter before killing a deputy who pursued him. Nichols escaped and later was linked to the murder of U.S. Immigration and Customs agent David G. Wilhelm in a residential neighborhood north of Atlanta. He surrendered Saturday morning after a 26-hour search.

In an appearance Tuesday on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Nichols’ elder brother, Mark, said the family was stunned to see him accused of the murders. Brian was the successful kid in the family -- he lived in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood, worked for eight years as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard, and played keyboards at a church he attended regularly, Mark Nichols, 37, said.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s real,” he said. “All this is like a dream that I hope I can wake up from. I’m tired, worn out. I haven’t slept in three days. I haven’t eaten. That’s my only brother and I love him.”

Meanwhile Tuesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced a $10,000 reward for Ashley Smith, the 26-year-old woman who turned Nichols in to police after he held her hostage.

“I think Ashley Smith has earned the money,” Perdue said.

At a memorial across the street from the courthouse, Chaplain Warren L. Henry said that Smith apparently had calmed Nichols by reading from a religious self-help book. “On March 11, we arrived at the Fulton County courthouse to have our world totally rearranged. We witnessed a battle of good versus evil, right versus wrong, heaven versus hell,” Henry said. “There was an angel sent from heaven, sitting in her ... apartment, who picked up a book called ‘The Purpose-Driven Life.’ ”

More than 200 county employees held hands and wept for their slain colleagues: Rowland Barnes, the judge assigned Nichols’ rape case; court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, who was in Barnes’ courtroom; and Sgt. Hoyt Teasley, who confronted Nichols on the street.

Looking out at an atrium filled with court reporters and sheriffs’ deputies, Fulton County Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. gave thanks to the workers who stood between judges and prisoners. “We put ourselves in the line of fire by choice,” he said. “You do not. We have made a choice to have a public profile. You have not.”

Bedford described his friend Barnes, 64, as a man with a tendency toward the outrageous. Barnes used to joke that he had begged Georgia governors for a judgeship so often that his knees hurt from kneeling. On the day he was appointed, Barnes walked into Bedford’s office, “fell on his knees and said: ‘Thank God, thank God, it worked!’ ”

“We will miss him,” Bedford said. “And I have a hole in my heart.”

A court reporter shared memories of Brandau, 43, who on the morning she was killed had brought in homemade pumpkin brownies for members of a jury.

Evelyn Parker said Brandau easily forgot anger or resentment, made fabulous sangria and sang out: “I love ya, honey!” at the end of every conversation.

Chief Deputy Michael Cooke gave a brief eulogy for Teasley, 43, calling him a devoted son who put on overalls and rushed over to help his mother when she had problems with her plumbing. As a result, Cooke said, “the water pressure is so great in her house that she can barely turn the thing on.” Up to the day of his death, Teasley held himself to a high standard.

“When everyone else was running away from the danger,” he said, “Hoyt, responding to duress, ran toward the danger.”