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                  BROTHER'S BOOK: ATF BLEW UP MURRAH BUILDING
                                       
     James Nichols
     
  Jury selection continues in Denver courtroom
  
     October 8, 1997
     Web posted at: 10:21 p.m. EDT (0221 GMT)
     
     DECKER, Michigan (CNN) -- As jury selection continues in the trial
     of accused Oklahoma bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, his brother
     has published a book meant to plant the seeds of doubt about whether
     Nichols was involved in the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S.
     soil.
     
     The 415-page book, co-written with Bob Papovich, is called
     "Freedom's End: Conspiracy in Oklahoma." In it, James Nichols
     contends that his brother had nothing to do with the 1995 bombing,
     that a law enforcement agency actually blew up the building, and
     that the FBI has not investigated the case sufficiently.
       _______________________________________________________________
     
  "They have failed to prove anything. They have investigated people, but not
  the bombing, because all they want to do is prosecute people, not find out
  the truth."
  
    � James Nichols
    
     
       _______________________________________________________________
     
     
     
     Specifically, James Nichols contends that the plastic barrels found
     at his brother's Kansas home did not match those found in the rubble
     of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He also
     contends that the bomb did not contain ammonium nitrate, as
     prosecutors contend. vxtreme CNN's Ed Garsten reports. 
     
     James Nichols does admit that Timothy McVeigh, already convicted and
     sentenced to death in the attack that killed 168 people, was upset
     about a 1993 raid by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents
     at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. But he scoffs at the
     idea that was the motive for the Oklahoma bombing, as prosecutors
     say.
     
     "Getting back at the (ATF) is a really stupid argument. There were
     few (ATF) agents stationed at the Murrah building," he writes.
     Freedom's End
     
     Instead, James Nichols maintains that the ATF itself blew up the
     Murrah building as part of a cover up of what happened at Waco.
     
     He wrote, "Who benefits by destroying records that would prove that
     the (ATF) was lying about the alleged drug laboratory, illegal
     weapons and child abuse at (the Davidian compound)?"
     
     Contacted for a response, an ATF spokesman told CNN that the agency
     could not comment because of the ongoing trial of Terry Nichols in
     Denver.
     
     James Nichols is scheduled to testify in his brother's defense.
     
     For James Nichols, writing the book may have been easier than
     getting it published. He says mainstream publishers would not print
     it, so he and Papovich published it themselves and took out loans to
     pay for it. Nichols also says many books stores are refusing to
     carry it because of its controversial subject matter.
     
  Jury selection continues in Denver
  
     
     
     In Denver meanwhile, a second week of jury selection began in
     Nichols' trial in U.S. District Court. Terry Nichols
     
     A grandmother who said it would be a mortal sin for her to impose
     the death penalty, and who pleaded that she needed to be with a sick
     daughter, was dismissed Wednesday on grounds of hardship.
     
     "I could never think of putting a person to death, because how can
     you put a person to death when it won't bring the people back?" she
     asked. "It would be on a person's conscience."
     
     The woman is Catholic and Judge Richard Matsch asked if she
     considered it a mortal sin to sentence someone to death.
     
     "Yes," said the woman, "a mortal sin."
     
     She was followed by a man who designs packaging for the medical
     industry. He said the death penalty would be appropriate in "a crime
     where someone shows no remorse. It might be a very violent crime."
     
     Another prospective juror interviewed Wednesday morning was a man
     who at first said the death penalty should be automatic for anyone
     convicted of premeditated murder. Later, under questioning by U.S.
     District Court Judge Richard Matsch, the man conceded that he could
     consider the character and background of the defendant before
     imposing a death sentence.
     
     The court is attempting to find a pool of 64 "death
     penalty-qualified" jurors from which a final panel of 12 jurors and
     six alternatives will be chosen.
     
     Under federal law, jurors must agree that they can impose the death
     penalty but will also consider other sentences if mitigating
     circumstances warrant.
     
     Nichols, 42, could receive the death penalty if he is convicted of
     the murder and conspiracy charges he faces.
     
     Detroit Bureau Chief Ed Garsten contributed to this report. 
     
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     * Message board - OKC trials: Nichols and McVeigh
       
  Related feature
     * Time Magazine: 'What Nichols revealed'
       
     
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