Jan. 16—Retired Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Steven Taylor said the 12 Pittsburg County jurors picked for the Terry Nichols trial in 2004 were the real heroes of the case.
“12 Pittsburg County citizens were called upon to give up four months of their lives as jurors,” Taylor said. “And they ended up being the heroes and champions of this trial because they sat through that trial and did their duty.”
Taylor spoke about his experiences of being the presiding judge over Nichols’ 2004 state trial for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing during the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum’s Journey of Hope presentation held Thursday at McAlester High School.
April 19, 2025, marks the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
As part of its mission to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those whose lives were changed forever, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is traveling to all 77 counties across Oklahoma in a Journey of Hope.
The mobile presentation was attended Thursday by all McAlester High School Students along with a handful of first responders and local and state officials, including Pittsburg County Sheriff Frankie McClendon, District 18 District Attorney Chuck Sullivan, and State Representatives Jim Grego and Tim Turner.
Organizers said these in-person visits provide an opportunity to take the exhibit beyond the walls of the museum and the memorial to all parts of the state and share the 30th anniversary message, “A Day of Darkness — Years of Light” aimed at inspiring students, civic clubs, church groups, individuals and families to embody the Oklahoma Standard by showing up to serve, rising up to honor and stepping up to be kind.
During his presentation, Taylor said Nichols “was more of the logistics guy” and was the one that gathered all of the material used to make the fertilizer bomb with Timothy McVeigh being the “macho guy” who wanted to light the fuse.
Taylor also spoke about how two people who were living in Arizona could have prevented the tragedy if they had just told the authorities.
Michael and Lori Fortier were a part of the planning of the bombing, with Michael eventually taking a plea agreement or failing to report the attack beforehand in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife. He also had to testify against both McVeigh and Nichols as part of the plea agreement.
“All they had to do is report this, and we wouldn’t be here today. Those 168 people, those 19 children would still have their lives to live. And so, the lesson here for all of you is and you’ve heard it hundreds of times, but this is how it really works. The Fortiers knew about it and they didn’t say anything,” Taylor said. “So that lesson all of you hear from time to time ‘You see something, say something, you hear something, say something,’ you can save lives. You can make a difference.”
Taylor said the jurors who believed that life in prison without parole would be worse than receiving the death penalty “may be the wise ones.”
“I told him this at the time of sentencing, I hope he thinks about those 168 people every day, and in a way, those jurors who felt that life without parole was harsher may be the wise ones,” Taylor said. “Because every day in that small cell in Florence, Colorado, the defendants thinking about those 168 and those 19 kids.”
The Journey of Hope will hold its next presentation Friday at Wilburton High School.