Colorado Springs – A 36-year-old father was convicted today of killing his three children by setting their home on fire for the insurance money.
An El Paso County jury took four days of deliberation to convict Tim Nicholls on three counts of first-degree murder. He is to be sentenced May 17 to a mandatory term of life without parole.
Nicholls was convicted of setting his home on fire on March 7, 2003. He was alone with his children – Jay, 11; Sophia, 6; and Sierra, 3 – when the fire consumed the 1,550 square-foot home on Undimmed Circle.
Medical personnel drew some of Nicholls’ blood shortly after the fire and he tested positive for methamphetamine.
“I think it is the second-saddest day of my life,” said Sandra Wilson, the children’s grandmother, after the verdict was announced. “The first is the day I lost the kids.”
Defense attorney Dennis Hartley said he was resigned to the verdict. “I gave this case to the Lord a long time ago,” he said outside the courtroom. “What the verdict is is what the verdict is.”
He said Nicholls was disappointed with the verdict.
“I’m sure he was devastated,” Hartley said. “You get convicted of killing your children and you’ve maintained your innocence all along. There are a ton of appellate issues.”
Prosecutors said Nicholls and his wife, Deborah, had been in financial trouble and were attempting to cash in on a $250,000 insurance policy for the house, which American Family Insurance has refused to pay.
