Mother of accused gunman expressed sorrow to judge's widow

<p>The mother of courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols said she met with the widow of the judge he's accused of killing and that the two offered comfort to each other.</p><p>The meeting came in November at the courthouse where pretrial motions were being heard, Claritha Nichols told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.</p><p>Claudia Barnes, widow of Judge Rowland Barnes, met Claritha Nichols outside the courtroom and asked if they could talk.</p><p>The two women slipped into an empty room where they hugged and cried, Claritha Nichols said.</p><p>"She said it was not our fault," Claritha Nichols recalled. "We got a chance to express our sorrow. ... We wanted her to know just how sorry we were. And we shared with her how we pray ... for them every day to help them get through this situation."</p><p>Claritha Nichols said she also wants to express the same condolences to the families of other victims of the shooting rampage. But only when the time is right, she said.</p><p>"I just don't want to invade their grief," she said.</p><p>Claritha and Gene Nichols were in Tanzania when the shootings happened.</p><p>Since finding out her son was accused in the shootings, Claritha Nichols said she has had conversations with God and was angry.</p><p>"'Why us? Why our family?'" she said. "Then it came to me: Why not us? We're not any better than anybody else."</p><p>She said she came to terms with it last summer when she was bedridden for a week, recovering from a pulmonary embolism that was discovered a few days after surgery to remove a cancerous breast.</p><p>"We can't change what happened," said Claritha Nichols, who is nearing the end of her chemotherapy treatment.</p><p>In the meantime, Claritha and Gene Nichols have been visiting their son, who is jailed in Atlanta while awaiting his death penalty trial in the deaths of Judge Barnes and three others.</p><p>Brian Nichols can have three 30-minute visits from friends and relatives each week. His mother visits him every Wednesday and Saturday; his father takes the other 30 minutes.</p><p>Their conversations are usually light. Sometimes they discuss religion or the news.</p><p>They do not talk about his case.</p><p>"Brian is in isolation," Claritha Nichols said. "He's in a concrete cell and the only thing soft is a foam mattress. We have never talked to him about what happened. I know that he is extremely sorry for what he's putting us through and he asked us to remain good grandparents."</p><p>Brian Nichols has two children.</p><p>Claritha Nichols said Brian Nichols reads "Star Wars" books and is studying calculus and Arabic. He sleeps a lot. The only other human contact Brian Nichols has is with his lawyers and the deputies who guard him.</p><p>The parents also baby-sit their newest grandson _ Brian Nichols' son, who was born just days before the courthouse shootings.</p><p>And they still speak fondly of the longtime girlfriend who accused their son of rape, the charge Brian Nichols was on trial for when the shootings happened. A picture of the woman with their son is prominently displayed in their Jonesboro home.</p><p>"I love her like a daughter. Still do," Claritha Nichols said.</p><p>The Nicholses, like the friends and relatives of those killed nearly a year ago, plan to mark the first anniversary of the shootings Saturday.</p><p>"It's going to be a difficult day," Claritha Nichols said.</p><p>Brian Nichols was on trial for rape last March when he allegedly overpowered a deputy and stole her gun. Authorities say he then went on a shooting spree, killing Judge Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau in the courthouse and sheriff's Sgt. Hoyt Teasley outside the courthouse. A fourth victim, federal agent David Wilhelm, was killed at his home later in the day. He surrendered to authorities the next day after allegedly taking a woman hostage.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cddf34)</p>