<p>A juror on Brian Nichols' rape trial said he was unnerved by the defendant's cold, hard stares at the jury box, and court officials were worried after they found shanks in Nichols' shoes earlier in the week.</p><p>On Friday morning, Nichols made his move. He allegedly overpowered a court deputy, taking her gun, before allegedly killing three people: the judge presiding over his case, a court reporter and a deputy who confronted him as he escaped the courthouse.</p><p>Nichols, 33, was on trial at the downtown Atlanta courthouse for a second time in as many weeks on charges of rape, sodomy, burglary, false imprisonment, gun and drug possession involving a woman he had a longtime relationship with, authorities said.</p><p>Brian Nichols' trial began on Tuesday. Last week, the same charges ended in a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a verdict, said Erik Friedly, spokesman for the Fulton County District Attorney's office.</p><p>Nichols, who had been held in the Fulton County Jail for the last six months, had faced a possible life prison sentence, if convicted for rape.</p><p>Nichols' trial was to resume Friday afternoon. When the shootings happened, Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes was hearing civil cases, Friedly said.</p><p>Telephone and e-mail requests for comment to Nichols' attorney, Barry M. Hazen of Atlanta, were not immediately returned Friday.</p><p>The victim in the rape case has not been identified by authorities, who have been seeing to her protection, Friedly said.</p><p>"The victim was in our office at one point this morning," Friedly said.</p><p>A background check showed Nichols did not have a violent criminal past. He only had been sentenced for driving violations that included driving with a suspended or revoked license, driving without insurance and driving without a valid license plate decal.</p><p>But Fulton County prosecutors thought otherwise.</p><p>"We have no doubt he was dangerous," said District Attorney Paul Howard.</p><p>Howard said Nichols allegedly broke into his ex-girlfriend's house, bound her with duct tape and brought a cooler stocked with food.</p><p>"He said he would assault her for three days until her birthday," Howard said, adding that Nichols brought a loaded machine gun.</p><p>Howard said Nichols repeatedly threatened the victim, her family and her new boyfriend.</p><p>Nichols also was an intimidating presence to jurors hearing his case.</p><p>"Every time he looked up, he was staring at you," said juror James Bailey.</p><p>Nichols had not taken the stand yet in the trial.</p><p>Barnes and prosecutors requested extra security on Thursday after investigators found a shank in each shoe as Nichols was being returned back to Fulton County Jail, said prosecutor Gayle Abramson.</p><p>Nichols had lived in Georgia since 1995, with addresses in Roswell, Jonesboro and Atlanta, according to a background check. During the same time period he also maintained an address in Lauderhill, Fla.</p><p>At an upscale condominium complex in north Atlanta, neighbor Meg Armistead described him as a "nuisance" because he had a pit bull that he would occasionally let roam around the complex without a leash and because he took over the condominium's pool.</p><p>Neighbors there witnessed his August arrest, conducted by a Sheriff's SWAT team, at his rented condominium, Armistead said.</p><p>Nichols was briefly a student at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. He enrolled in the fall of 1989, made it through his freshman year, then left the university in the fall semester of his sophomore year, said school spokesman Philip Breeze. Nichols played for one season as a linebacker on the school's football team.</p><p>He declined to reveal why Breeze didn't finish his schooling, citing federal privacy laws.</p><p>Florida state records showed that in 1997 he was declined a license to be a security officer in that state, although the records do not indicate the reason his license was declined.</p><p>____</p><p>Associated Press reporters Harry R. Weber and Bill Poovey in Atlanta contributed to this article.</p>
