No shortage of opinions on Nichols

Bob Burow, left, and James Earl Johnson talk about the upcoming trial for Terry Nichols at Burrow's McAlester, Okla., restaurant Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004. (AP Photo/McAlester News Capital & Democrat, Doug Russell)

By Kelly Kurt

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ Restaurant owner Bob Burow believes Oklahoma City conspirator Terry Nichols can get a fair trial here. But he believes just as firmly that Nichols is guilty and should be put to death, Oklahoma's "pound of flesh," he said, for the 168 men, women and children killed in the bombing.

Nichols' trial on state murder charges begins this week when more than 300 Pittsburg County residents report for jury selection, starting Monday. Burow is not among them.

"They would not want me," he acknowledged, speaking under the big American flag in his smoke-filled restaurant, What About Bob's. "My mind is made up."

Nichols already is serving life in federal prison for the deaths of eight government agents in the blast that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. In the state trial, he faces 161 counts of murder for the other victims, including the unborn child of a woman who was killed.

Prosecutors allege that Nichols, 48, conspired with Timothy McVeigh to build the 4,000-pound bomb used in the bombing.

Many McAlester residents were not surprised by Judge Steven W. Taylor's decision to move the trial out of Oklahoma City because of pretrial publicity.

But the fact the trial is going forward at all upsets Ann Prince, a 75-year-old Bob's customer.

"I think it's a waste of money," she said. "He's already been tried. Why go through it again?"

McAlester sits about 130 miles southeast of Oklahoma City in a part of the state dubbed "Little Dixie." The name refers to the cotton plantations that once flourished south of here, but some see it as also defining a rebellious streak that makes people here uniquely qualified to decide Nichols' guilt or innocence.

"Everyone down here is so independent thinking," said Jim Johnson, who was in Oklahoma City when the bomb exploded. He believes Taylor will seat a jury "that's going to listen to everything and make an informed decision."

McAlester is the site of the hulking Oklahoma State Penitentiary, home of the state's toughest criminals and the place where the worst go to die.

If Burow gets his wish, Nichols could face the yellow door of the prison's death chamber.

City Manager Randy Green says McAlester is a "friendly, progressive city" with an Army Ammunition Plant, a medical complex, a Boeing plant, a window factory and other manufacturers.

By bringing in the media, victims' families and others, the trial is expected to boost city sales tax receipts by 2.5 percent to 3 percent, he said. The city's 575 hotel rooms and downtown rental properties are mostly booked for what is expected to be a three- to six-month trial.

Some residents, like Burow, fear the trial could draw an anti-government element. But Green said extensive security precautions have eased concerns.

John Carver lives near the courthouse and already is fed up with security that sends traffic from a main thoroughfare into his neighborhood. He calls the trial "a pain in the butt."

"I don't know if he can get a fair trial anywhere," Carver said. "You blow up a building and kill 168 people and that's a little tough."

No shortage of opinions on Nichols' trial in host town