Attorney eyeing death penalty for Nichols

ATLANTA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A county prosecutor in Atlanta says potential federal charges against Brian Nichols could result in a death sentence for the convicted courthouse killer.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Saturday while his efforts to get the death penalty for Nichols failed, he likely will be talking with federal prosecutors about the possibility of bringing federal charges against Nichols, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday.

The potential federal charges would be for the death of U.S. Customs agent David Wilhelm, one of four people Nichols was convicted of killing on March 11, 2005.

Nichols was convicted of overpowering a sheriff's deputy at the Fulton

County Courthouse and then killing Wilhelm, Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Ann Brandau and Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley.

While prosecutors had sought the death penalty, Nichols received seven consecutive life prison sentences and four sentences of life without parole, along with 485 years, on Saturday.