A US federal jury today found al Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui eligible to be executed and decided that his lies to FBI agents led directly to at least one death in the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001.
Moussaoui, a French citizen, now faces a second phase of his sentencing trial for his role in the worst terrorist attacks against the US.
The nine men and three women of the jury sitting in Alexandria, Virginia, will hear testimony on whether the 37-year-old Frenchman, who was in jail at the time of the attack, deserves to be executed for his role.
The testimony will include families of September 11th victims who will describe the human impact of the al Qaida mission that saw four airliners flown into the World Trade Centre, the Defence Department and a Pennsylvania field.
Court-appointed defence lawyers, whom Moussaoui has tried to reject, will summon experts to suggest he is schizophrenic after an impoverished childhood during which he faced racism in France over his Moroccan ancestry.
"By this verdict, the jury has found that death is a possible sentence in this case," court spokesman Ed Adams said.
On the key question before the jurors, they answered yes on whether at least one victim died September 11th as a direct result of Moussaoui's actions.
Moussaoui sat in his chair and prayed silently as the verdict was read; he refused to stand up to hear the verdict.
"You'll never get my blood, God curse you all," he said after the verdict. Had the jury voted against his eligibility for the death penalty, Moussaoui would have been sentenced to life in prison.
The jury began weighing Moussaoui's fate last Wednesday. During its deliberations, the jury asked only one question, seeking a definition of "weapon of mass destruction." One of the three convictions for which Moussaoui could be executed is conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The jurors were told that a plane used as a missile - the tactic employed on September 11th - qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with al Qaida to hijack aircraft and other crimes.
Agencies