There almost certainly will be more tearful testimony, more bloody photographs and more from Michael Fortier. That much jurors in the second Oklahoma City bombing trial already expect.
Opening statements in the trial of Terry Nichols began Monday, more than 2 1/2 years after the bombing killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others.There were no long lines outside the federal courthouse as there were for Timothy McVeigh's trial. About three dozen survivors and relatives of victims showed up, and they were moved inside because of near-freezing temperatures.
There also was a smaller crowd at the site of the closed-circuit courtroom telecast in Oklahoma City, with about 50 survivors and relatives on hand.
During jury selection, potential jurors said they were familiar with images of the bombing, from smoking wreckage to wailing children, and with McVeigh, 29, convicted five months ago and sentenced to die.
But they seemed less informed when it came to Nichols, 42, accused of helping McVeigh plot the bombing.
Nichols is accused of robbing a gun dealer to raise money for the bombing, helping McVeigh stow a getaway car in Oklahoma City and helping assemble the bomb. He faces the same murder, conspiracy and weapons charges for which a jury convicted McVeigh.
Nichols was at home in Herington, Kan., at the time of the bombing on April 19, 1995.