Brian Nichols
Brian Gene Nichols (born December 10, 1971) is an accused rapist and convicted murderer known for his escape and killing spree in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11, 2005. Nichols was on trial for rape when he escaped custody and murdered the judge presiding over his trial, a court reporter, a Fulton County Sheriff's deputy, and later an ICE special agent. Twenty-six hours after a large-scale manhunt was launched in the metropolitan Atlanta area, Nichols was taken into custody. The prosecution charged him with committing 54 crimes during the escape; he was found guilty on all counts on November 7, 2008 and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Early life Nichols grew up in a middle class household in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended Cardinal Gibbons School. He later attended Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, from 1989 to 1990, where he played football and was known for having a "knack for trouble". Nichols dropped out of college and moved to Georgia in 1995, where he worked for Hewlett-Packard and UPS. Nichols was arrested on multiple charges for the rape, kidnapping, and assault of a former girlfriend after discovering that she was dating a minister