ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In another twist to an already bizarre case, the last witness in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial Tuesday described a secret, late-night jailhouse meeting in February where he said Moussaoui tried to strike a deal with prosecutors to cooperate with the government in order to save his life.
FBI Special Agent James Fitzgerald, one of the lead agents in the case, said Moussaoui summoned him and federal prosecutors to the Alexandria city jail in an attempt to persuade them that he was worth more to them alive than dead.
But the bargaining in the jail law library on Feb. 6, a month before Moussaoui's trial began, broke down when prosecutors demanded that Moussaoui provide "full and complete" cooperation and tell everything he knew about Al Qaeda, not just his role in the Sept. 11 conspiracy.
Fitzgerald testified that Moussaoui came away from the clandestine meeting empty-handed.
Though Moussaoui's lawyers have said he wants to die a martyr, he told the FBI and prosecutors that death in a prison execution chamber was not a fitting end for an avowed terrorist such as himself.
"He stated it was different to die in battle like an F-16 pilot," Fitzgerald said, "than to die in jail like in a toilet."
Fitzgerald was the concluding witness in a trial full of surprises.
A government aviation lawyer was accused of improperly tampering with witnesses, prompting the judge to exclude all but one aviation expert from testifying and nearly gutting the government's case.
Then Moussaoui returned the favor: Taking the stand in his own defense, he said he was supposed to fly a fifth plane into the White House on Sept. 11, and admitted the government's chief allegation -- that he had lied to the FBI after his arrest in August 2001 so the terrorist plot could go forward.
Today, lawyers for both sides are to make closing arguments. Jurors will then begin deliberations.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April. The jury's first task in the sentencing phase is to decide if prosecutors proved that Moussaoui, a 37-year-old student pilot from France, is eligible for the death penalty.
The government contends he is because his failure to cooperate with the FBI in the weeks leading up to the attacks prevented agents from stopping the airplane hijackings.
If all 12 jurors side with prosecutors, the trial will move to a second phase to decide whether Moussaoui will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole. If jurors do not, the trial will be over and Moussaoui will automatically be sentenced to life.
