The Changing Face Of Marife Nichols:
The Years Haven't Been Kind To Terry's Ex-Wife
Issues
The photograph on the left is a bit hazy, as I scanned it from American Terrorist soon after the book came out in 2001. Still, you can make out a young and attractive Asian woman, who, at the time, was married to Terry Nichols. She had no way of knowing that her life would be blasted out of the water after Nichols and McVeigh committed their act of terrorism in Oklahoma City. This wasn't the first tragedy to befall this young mother. Her infant son, Jason, was killed and it devastated her. Here's how it happened.
By November 1993, Terry and Marife Nichols and their 2-year-old son, Jason, were ready to pull up stakes again for the West.
Here's a blurry photo of Tim McVeigh holding Jason:
It should be noted that I had mistakenly thought this picture was of Tim's father, holding him as an infant, but someone informed me that I was mistaken. I just thought that, since Tim's father looked so much like his son, it could have been the two of them. Well, I guess not.
On the night of Nov. 22, they put Jason to bed. The room was cluttered with half-packed clothing, boxes and plastic bags. During the night, the boy got out of bed and became trapped in a plastic bag. He died in what police described as "a tragic accident." The loss hit Nichols hard.
"That baby dying knocked the pudding out of him," said Phil Morawksi, a Michigan friend. "Cute little guy, sunshine face, when he'd see you, his face would light up." Marife and Terry had a second child, Nicole, and made their way to Las Vegas, where they rented a $550-a-month condominium in December 1993. Neighbors found the family unremarkable. After only three months, Terry and Marife moved out, selling most of their furniture. From there, it was all down hill for Marife, whose maiden name was Torres.
The picture on the right was taken recently and it shows a marked difference from the young bride. Her face is bloated and pale. She looks ill and I would imagine feels as bad as her outward appearance shows here. This poor soul has had her life turned upside down forever. I cannot see things ending well for Marife Torres.
When you read what this poor soul's life has been like after the Oklahoma tragedy, it's not difficult to understand how far downhill her life and the life of her family has gone.
Nichols' ex-wife alleges threats by ex-boyfriend
By Nolan Clay
August 18, 2006
YUKON - Terry Nichols' second ex-wife has been unlucky in love again, calling the police on an ex-boyfriend just months after they had a daughter together.
Marife Nichols, 35, asked a Canadian County judge on Aug. 8 for a protective order. A hearing is set for next week.
She alleges ex-boyfriend Mario F. Houston, 37, choked her, put a knife to her throat, pushed her around and twice broke her front door during arguments in July and August. She also alleges he threatened to take their daughter Angelina. She called police Aug. 6.
"I was afraid he would just kill me," she told the judge.
Houston, an ex-convict, on Thursday denied most of the accusations. Houston said he did break a chain lock to get some of his clothes but never hurt Nichols or put a knife to her throat.
"I wasn't abusive," he told The Oklahoman. "She's made numerous threats towards me."
Terry Nichols, 51, is serving life in prison in Colorado for his role in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. He was convicted in 1997 at his federal trial in Denver and in 2004 at his state trial in McAlester.
Marife Nichols has lived quietly with their two children in the Oklahoma City- area for years. She and Terry Nichols wed in the Philippines in 1990, after he went there to look for a wife. She then was 17. He was 35.
The two had a rocky marriage. They lived in Kansas at the time of the bombing. She had been planning before his arrest to return to the Philippines without him. They divorced in 2003 in Oklahoma.
Houston said the two met at a club last year and he did not know she was Terry Nichols' ex-wife until after she was pregnant.
"Once I found out who she was, I had a real problem with that," Houston said. "I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me. Out of everybody who I could have met in Oklahoma City, how did I end up with you?'"
He said their daughter was due to be born April 19 -- the anniversary of the bombing. "That was a shocker. ... We took her (Marife) in to have labor induced. I did not want her (Angelina) to be born on that day, no," Houston said.
The girl was born April 18, he said.
He said their daughter was due to be born April 19 -- the anniversary of the bombing. "That was a shocker. ... We took her (Marife) in to have labor induced. I did not want her (Angelina) to be born on that day, no," Houston said.
The girl was born April 18, he said.
Houston was in prison briefly for a 1989 drug offense, records show. "I was just young and dumb, hanging around the wrong people," he said.
Marife Nichols could not be reached for comment. She rarely has talked to reporters.
Contributing: Robert Medley
2005 The Oklahoman, NEWS 9 and Oklahoma City National Memorial.
With rights reserved, this website was produced by Scott Horton and NewsOK.com.
Is Someone Buying Marife Nichols Silence?
The news media missed the real story which was not Marife's romantic misadventures. The real story should've been about Marife's financial situation. In 2005 Marife purchased a house that's easily worth $115,ooo in Yukon, OK, the address is 10441 Glascow Drive Yukon,OK 73099, this address can be verified at www.daplus.us. Daplus lists the average value of the houses in Marife's neighborhood between $100-$124,000. Marife also purchased a new car around the same time. Marife was working as a janitor at the Hobby Lobby Warehouse in Oklahoma City, OK and shouldn't have been able to afford to make these purchases.
Considering how there are many theories about foreign ties to the bombing and additional domestic domestic ties that have not been uncovered, you would think the media would've taken a hard look at how Marife could've afforded the neighborhood she lived in. You would also think that the Congressional subcomittee investigating foriegn ties to the bombing would've have taken a look at Marife's financial situation as well but it appears that they did not.
Is someone paying Marife to keep quiet about something? This a question that needs to be asked. POSTED BY OBSERVER AT 6:06 PM
This last statement smacks of a conspiracy. There are so many of these "who the real bombers were" stories out there, that it's hard to tell one from the other. I highly doubt that Marife is getting hush money, just as I cannot and will not believe that there's a Philippine connection. That claim suggests that Terry Nichols went to the Philippines, not just to pick up a mail order bride, but to commiserate with Arabs, who, ostensibly, were conspiring to bomb the Murrah building. It just gets so tedious.
