Brian Nichols appeared before Cobb County Magistrate Judge Frank Cox on Tuesday, four days after fleeing Atlanta in a killing spree. The hearing took place inside a Fulton County jail. Accompanied by nineteen security officers and shackled at the hands and feet, Nichols only words when asked if he had any questions were, "Not at this time."
The 5 minute hearing was a formality to uphold the rape charges against him. He will be charged with 4 counts of murder and is currently being held with bond.
Nichols allegedly shot the judge at his rape trial along with two others in an Atlanta courtroom. He then fled to a suburb outside the city, where later that evening he shot a US customs agent before taking a woman, Ashley Smith, hostage. Smith was held by Nichols in her own apartment for 4 hours while he eluded a massive manhunt.
Nichols ultimately let Smith go free. He surrendered peacefully to a SWAT team after she alerted authorities.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Suspect in Atlanta courtroom shooting gets hearing