A local police captain and an assistant solicitor spent last week testifying in an Atlanta murder case that has received national attention.

Newberry Police Captain Chuck Counts and Eighth Circuit Assistant Solicitor Mindy Zimmerman testified last week in the death penalty phase of the trial against Brian Nichols.

Nichols, a former Newberry College football player has been convicted of 54 various counts in the shooting deaths of four people in Atlanta on March 11, 2005.

Nichols was a defensive end at Newberry College in 1993.

After that he led a successful life and was a church going man, who made $80,000 a year working as a UPS administrator.

But his luck changed when he impregnated a woman and his girlfriend of seven years ended their relationship. He later bound and raped his former girlfriend.

Nichols was on trial for rape and facing a life sentence when he entered the Atlanta courthouse on March 11, 2005.

Once in that courtroom just before 9 on a Friday morning, Nichols overpowered deputy Cynthia Hall, 51, assaulted her and locked her in a cell. He also stole her duty belt with her radio and bullets. He then took her weapon from a locker. The injuries to Hall's face were so bad, doctors initially thought she had been shot. Hall survived the ordeal.

Nichols then entered the courtroom and fatally shot Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, 64, and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, 46. Outside the courthouse, he shot deputy Hoyt Teasley, 44, to death.

Later, he hit an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter with the pistol and took his car. During the escape, Nichols also car-jacked several other vehicles.

Around 10:40 p.m., Nichols killed U.S. Immigration and Customs agent David Wilheim at his Buckhead home that was under construction and stole Wilheim's truck.

Nichols then forced his way into Ashley Smith's apartment around 2 a.m. During the night Smith read Nichols passages from Rick Warren's book “The Purpose Driven Life.” Through the reading and talking, Smith convinced Nichols to release her around 10 a.m. on March 12, 2005. Nichols was arrested at Smith's apartment a short time later.

Nichols' trial for the killings began July 10 and ended on Nov. 7 with the jury finding him guilty of all 54 counts against him.

On Nov. 7, Counts said he received a call stating he would be summoned in the death penalty phase of the trial.

Counts traveled to Atlanta on Monday and stayed there at the expense of the court until he testified on Wednesday.

Counts testified that Nichols was arrested on first degree burglary charges while a student at Newberry College in 1994.

Nichols allegedly stole about $1,900 in stereo equipment and jewelry from a dorm room at Cromer Hall.

Nichols confessed to the burglary and entered a pretrial intervention program as his sentence. He later failed out of the program.

In 1996, a bench warrant for failure to appear in court was issued against Nichols and was still outstanding at the time of his arrests. With the seriousness of Atlanta's charges against Nichols, Solicitor Jerry Peace decided to drop the Newberry cases against him.

Peace said the decision was an administrative one and not based on a lack of evidence. Zimmerman testified in Atlanta about that move.

Counts, who has taken the stand numerous times during his career as an agent with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and Newberry Police Department, said the biggest difference in testifying in the Atlanta case was that it was being televised live.