BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — From the witness stand, Waylene Vaughn described her ex-boyfriend, on trial for a 1963 church bombing, as a hate-filled racist who talked about wanting to kill blacks.
Thomas Blanton Jr. once tried to run over a black pedestrian and claimed to have attacked others with acid, she told a jury who hearing the ex-Ku Klux Klansman's murder trial.
"All I want is a chance to kill one of those black [people]," Vaughn quoted Blanton as saying after he tried to run down a black pedestrian with his car. The man dove out of the way, apparently unharmed.
Blanton, 62, is on trial for the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a rallying site for civil rights demonstrators. The Sept. 15, 1963, blast killed Denise McNair, 11, and 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson.
Defense attorney John Robbins, tried to show that Vaughn, too, was racist, which she denied. But Robbins noted that Vaughn kept dating Blanton in spite of his racist comments, and that she accompanied him to Klan events.
"Isn't it true you thought it was sexy to be at a Klan rally?" Robbins asked.
"No. I liked to observe people," Vaughn replied.
Jurors heard conflicting stories Thursday about how Blanton spent the days leading up to the bombing.
Vaughn said Blanton spent the Friday night before the Sunday blast with her at a Birmingham motel. But retired FBI agents Frank Spencer and Richard Hayes said Blanton did not mention Vaughn in statements about his activities that weekend.
Spencer said Blanton talked about going to a drive-in restaurant with another woman on Saturday night. It was unclear what he did on Friday night, Spencer said.
"He vaguely recalled attending a meeting," Spencer said.
Barber Bill Jackson testified he saw Blanton and other Klansmen linked to the bombing at a sign shop where segregationists often gathered to make protest signs. But he was unsure exactly when he saw Blanton.
Jackson recalled Blanton's comments when they attended a meeting to discuss forming a new Ku Klux Klan unit.
"It was pretty hateful. Tommy is a hateful person. Anytime you're around those kind of people there's always threats," Jackson said.
But Robbins tried to cast doubt on the testimony given by Jackson, who had been questioned by federal agents after the bombing.
"He admitted he lied to the FBI all through the 1960s," Robbins said.
Under cross examination by Robbins, Jackson said he later cooperated with authorities in hopes of getting reward money offered in the case.
U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, who is prosecuting the state case under special arrangement, said he expects to wind up the state's case by late Friday. Robbins said he believes he will finish with defense testimony by Monday and the jury could get the case by Tuesday.
Circuit Judge James Garrett upheld his previous ruling permitting jurors to hear excerpts from secret FBI tapes made in Blanton's kitchen in 1964. Jones said the tapes will be played for jurors Friday.
Blanton is the second ex-Klansman tried in the church bombing. Robert Chambliss was convicted in 1977 and died in prison.
Ex-Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry was supposed to stand trial with Blanton, but Garrett delayed his case after two mental evaluations raised questions about his competency to stand trial. A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died without being charged.