The Judge presiding over the Oklahoma state trial of Terry Nichols sentenced him today to 161 terms of life without parole, to be served consecutively. The jury had rejected the death penalty for him.

Nichols spoke at his sentencing, but if anyone was expecting he would answer lingering questions about involvement of others in the bombing, it was not to be. Nichols apologized and told everyone to believe in God.

Nichols' lawyers are encouraging him not to appeal. If he were to be retried, the death penalty could be on the table again. So, it looks like the OKC bombing cases finally have come to an end. That's good. The families of the victims have closure and can now move on.

My view: The state trial was an unnecessary waste of resources. Nichols was already serving life without parole on his federal conviction of conspiracy to kill the 8 federal workers who died in the blast. He will now return to the maximum security wing at Florence, Colorado to serve out the rest of his sentence. Gain to the state and people of Oklahoma by virtue of this trial: none.

Update: Here is the text of Terry Nichols' statement at sentencing today.