Convicted OKC bomber Terry Nichols, who has maintained his silence for ten years, now is accusing Arkansa gun dealer Roger Moore of providing some of the explosives for the 1995 OKC bombing.

Nichols claims Arkansas gun collector Roger Moore gave the explosives to Timothy McVeigh and also provided additional bomb components recently found in Nichols' former Kansas home, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. In the early stages of the bombing investigation, the FBI took a hard look at Moore because of his anti-government views and close relationship with McVeigh. He was never charged.

The Daily Oklahoman has obtained a copy of a statement Terry Nichols and his lawyers gave to prosecutors last year during plea negotioations that could have but didn't result in a deal to save his life, that outlines his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He said he knows of no other co-conspirators, did not know Michael Fortier was involved, and did not know what building McVeigh intended to bomb until he heard it on the news. Nichols went to trial and was sentenced to life by the jury.

Here's the text of the statement:

Were you present during the purchase of: ammonium nitrate, nitromethane, barrels and where was each purchased?

Ammonium nitrate: Yes, for the majority of the purchases. It is my understanding that McVeigh bought some additional bags of ammonium nitrate (approximately 12 or more) on his own. I was not involved in those purchases. The ones I was involved in were purchased from the McPherson, Kansas Coop. I do not know where McVeigh purchased the additional 12 or so bags.

The Judge presiding over the Oklahoma state trial of Terry Nichols sentenced him today to 161 terms of life without parole, to be served consecutively. The jury had rejected the death penalty for him.

Nichols spoke at his sentencing, but if anyone was expecting he would answer lingering questions about involvement of others in the bombing, it was not to be. Nichols apologized and told everyone to believe in God.

Nichols' lawyers are encouraging him not to appeal. If he were to be retried, the death penalty could be on the table again. So, it looks like the OKC bombing cases finally have come to an end. That's good. The families of the victims have closure and can now move on.

My view: The state trial was an unnecessary waste of resources. Nichols was already serving life without parole on his federal conviction of conspiracy to kill the 8 federal workers who died in the blast. He will now return to the maximum security wing at Florence, Colorado to serve out the rest of his sentence. Gain to the state and people of Oklahoma by virtue of this trial: none.

Update: Here is the text of Terry Nichols' statement at sentencing today.

The citizens of Oklahoma shelled out more than $5.2 million to try and kill Terry Nichols:

The final costs of Terry Nichols' state case will exceed $5.2
million. More than $3.75 million has already been paid on his defense since 1999, records show. Another $115,361 in defense bills for May is being processed. The defense costs includes the salaries of six court-appointed attorneys, their investigators and other staff. It also includes overhead, housing expenses, a jury consultant's fee, a public opinion survey and expert witness fees. The latest expenses in May include the cost of motel rooms for defense
witnesses.

The security costs for the trial and for Nichols' stay in McAlester were $288,355 through May, records show. Guards watched the Pittsburg County Courthouse around the clock. Nichols is held at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Jury costs so far exceed $67,400. Much of that was spent for jury selectionon the hundreds of candidates who were summoned for jury duty. Jurors are paid $20 a day plus mileage.

Update: The jurors speak.

Update: Teflon Terry Nichols

Update: Terry Nichols' jury is deadlocked and he will be spared the death penalty. Our congrats go to Nichols' outstanding defense team, which included NACDL Vice President, Barbara Bergman.

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After 17 hours of deliberations, the Terry Nichols' jury told the judge they are divided on whether he should get the death penalty. They are continuing to deliberate, but the foreman said some jurors have some "deeply held beliefs." If there is no unanimity, Nichols' will get a life sentence.

Closing arguments continue in Terry Nichols' state murder trial. He has been convicted of 161 counts of murder. The jury will decide whether he should be sentenced to life or death.

Defense attorney Barbara Bergman said Nichols has made mistakes in his life, but his role in the bombing merits a life sentence instead of death. "You must now decide do you kill Terry Nichols," Bergman told the jury of six men and six women on Tuesday. "He is a person with a heart and a soul, and a person whose life is worth saving."

Bergman became emotional during her argument. She said a death penalty for Nichols would mean guards will someday "take him out of his cell, strap him to a gurney and put poison in his veins." Defense witnesses presented photographs during the sentencing trial that showed Nichols with his three children - Joshua, 21, Nicole, 10, and Christian, 8. Others said they correspond with him about the Bible and religious issues. "He is a person who values and is valued by other people," Bergman said.

Terry Nichols's defense begins its presentation in the death penalty phase of his trial. Here's an interesting factoid: There are no more alternate jurors.

That's right. No more. So if one juror gets sick, Terry Nichols jury can't finish deliberations. Mistrial as to the sentencing. The matter goes to the judge, and under Oklahoma law, he has to impose a life sentence. Question: What's to prevent one juror, who wanted to make sure Nichols' got a life sentence, from just calling in sick?

All those millions spent prosecuting a man already serving a life sentence would be down the drain. For those of us opposed to the death penalty, we can't think of a more fitting ending.

Some legal eagles have suggested that the Judge could convene a second jury and retry the sentencing. We disagree. But even if it were legally possible, we don't see it. This judge has had enough. He's not going through this again.

Update: A commenter thought we were advocating that a juror pretend to be sick. We were not. That would be a fraud upon the court. Our comment about a fitting ending related to the possibility that a juror might really get sick and be prevented from deliberating.

Bump and Update: Terry Nichols has been convicted of 161 counts of first degree murder, conspiracy and arson. The jury deliberated only four hours. He will now face a death penalty proceeding before the same jury. We'll be talking about it on MSNBC's Abrams Report today (6 pm ET) . (Correction: Big news in Kobe Bryant case, our Nichols segment is cancelled and we'll be talking about Kobe instead. )

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Bump and Update: The defense closed today in the Terry Nichols trial. Defense Attorney Barbara Bergman attacked the Government's case:

"This is a case about manipulation, betrayal and overreaching," Bergman said. "People who are still unknown assisted Timothy McVeigh."....Bergman reminded jurors of dozens of witnesses who testified they saw McVeigh with others, including a stocky, dark-haired man depicted in an FBI sketch and known only as John Doe No. 2, in the weeks before the bombing. Witnesses said the others did not resemble Nichols.

"The state has jumped over a lot of holes in the case. The state has to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and they haven't." Bergman attacked scientific evidence presented by prosecutors during 29 days of testimony. The evidence included the discovery of ammonium nitrate crystals on a piece of plywood that was part of the Ryder truck that delivered the bomb.

The Judge in the OKC bombing trial of Terry Nichols ruled today that the jury may consider the death penalty as to the 160 non-federal employees killed in the bombing, but not as to the fetus that died with it's mother. Although in 2002 an Oklahoma appellate court upheld a law stating that fetuses are viable at 24 weeks and that their unnatural deaths can be charged as first-degree murder, the Court today found that the state did not give adequate notice to Nichols of its intent to seek the death penalty on the fetus.

Nichols was acquitted on first degree murder charges at his federal trial in 1997, but found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy to murder the 8 federal officers and given a life sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. In the state case, the jury will not be allowed to consider lesser charges. It's either first degree murder or innocent.

On Friday, Taylor ruled that Nichols' jury will not consider less serious charges when they decide Nichols' guilt or innocence in the bombing case. The ruling limited jurors to two possible verdicts: guilty of first-degree murder or innocent.

Nichols' lawyers have argued in the state trial that:

McVeigh had set up Nichols to take the blame for other, unidentified coconspirators heavily involved in the plot.

Closing arguments are scheduled for today.

FBI Whistle Blower Frederic Whitehurst testified yesterday for the defense in the Terry Nichols trial, and he said that another agent, Steven Burmeister, lied:

An F.B.I. whistle-blower testified Wednesday at the state murder trial of Terry L. Nichols that a government scientist lied when he said ammonium nitrate crystals found on debris from the Oklahoma City bombing had been embedded by the force of the blast. The whistle-blower, Frederic Whitehurst, testifying for the defense, said an F.B.I. forensic scientist he had trained, Steven Burmeister, also lied when he testified that the crystals came from the kind of fertilizer believed to have been used in the bombing.

Mr. Whitehurst said there was not enough evidence to support either of Mr. Burmeister's conclusions. "He is my student,'' Mr. Whitehurst said. "And I trust him like a brother. But he lied under oath. He lied."

Q-507. Pieces of crystal embedded in a piece of the truck. That was the exhibit introduced at Timothy McVeigh's trial. It was the only piece of direct evidence that linked the bomb to the Ryder truck:

Mr. Whitehurst's testimony focused on a shredded piece of plywood recovered two days after the bombing that the authorities believe came from the cargo container of the Ryder truck that delivered the bomb. The debris, found in a parking lot across the street from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, is the only direct evidence of the explosive used.

Mr. Whitehurst said that he saw the crystals through a microscope after Mr. Burmeister discovered them but that it was impossible to say whether they were embedded or the result of contamination. Mr. Whitehurst said ammonium nitrate could have been in the parking lot for several reasons.

Dave Neiwert of Orcinus has a compelling piece on the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Terry Nichols trial and how quickly America forgets. Lots of stuff on John Doe 2 and the missing leg. Were there others? We don't know, but we question why the Government never seemed to care.

More Neiwart on the conspiracist theory. More from us. Some curious photos.

The Judge in the Terry Nichols trial has denied his motion to dismiss. The motion, based upon prosecutorial withholding of evidence, was groundless according to the Judge. Secret Service testified there was no videotape showing two persons exiting from the Ryder truck, and her ruled that the other evidence the defense claimed was withheld was not new.

The trial resumed today with the continued testimony of Michael Fortier.