Nichols believes evidence against him is weaker, because he contends nothing places him at the bombing scene. After Nichols surrendered, he told FBI agents he and McVeigh were in Oklahoma City near the federal building three days before the bombing. He also told them he loaned McVeigh his pickup the day before the bombing and cleaned out a storage locker at McVeigh's request the day after the bombing. U.S. District Judge Richard Match has ruled that when the case comes to trial, the prosecution can use Nichols' statement, but only as evidence against Nichols. A jury cannot consider his statements in deciding McVeigh's fate, Matsch said.
Prosecutors support having a single trial, alleging that the two men plotted the bombing together.
Defendants usually are tried jointly in conspiracy cases. In addition, Justice Department lawyer Sean Connelly said, much of the evidence against the two men is the same. He argued witnesses and bomb survivors should only have to go the ordeal of a trial once. The case was moved to Denver on a change of venue because of the publicity in Oklahoma. Defendants ignore each other In court, the defendants sit five feet apart but never speak or look at each other.