PHOENIX - A government informant dubbed by defense attorneys as a "trailer park Mata Hari" took the witness stand Tuesday in the trial of white supremacist brothers charged with bombing a black city official in Scottsdale.
The woman, identified in court records as Rebecca Williams, spent about five years talking with identical twins Dennis and Daniel Mahon, recording their conversations unbeknownst to them.
Williams is not a government agent, but she testified Tuesday that she worked with the government partially for the money.
She works in a motorcycle shop and was recruited by the lead agent in the bombing case to use her feminine wiles to befriend the brothers in hopes that they would admit to her that they committed the bombing.
The brothers eyed Williams as she walked into the courtroom for the first time. She wore a gray pantsuit, black high heels and had her long, dark hair pulled up.
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The Mahon brothers, both of Davis Junction, Ill., have pleaded not guilty to the 2004 bombing of Don Logan, Scottsdale's diversity director at the time. Logan's hand and arm were injured, and a secretary was hurt.
Logan was in court Tuesday, sitting about 20 feet from the brothers, who sat quietly during the day's proceedings.
Since the trial began earlier this month, jurors have heard recordings of the Mahons using racial epithets for black and Hispanic people and saying that violence is the only answer for white men.
Williams testified that Dennis Mahon told her about his group, White Aryan Resistance, soon after they met at an Oklahoma campground where investigators had Williams stay to befriend the brothers.
She said investigators had her act like a separatist who was fleeing an arrest warrant and interested in learning about Aryan resistance. But that story was a ruse designed to get the brothers to open up to Williams, who also was chosen as an informant for her good looks.
Williams received $45,000 for working as an informant on the case over a five-year period and was promised $100,000 if the brothers are convicted.
While Williams was on the stand, prosecutors played conversations between her and Dennis Mahon, and voicemails he left for her.
In the messages, Mahon refers to Don Logan using a racial slur and tells her that he helped Scottsdale police officers make the bomb.
"Don Logan must have a death wish," he said. "The vast majority of white officers hated that bastard's guts so maybe next time they'll splatter that bastard's innards all over the hallways."
Earlier Tuesday, a bomb scare disrupted the proceedings. A U.S. marshal saw a small metal container in a planter and part of the building was evacuated. No one was allowed to leave or enter the building as it was examined.
The container turned out to have marijuana inside.
Defense attorneys for the Mahons argued the incident would scare jurors and taint their eventual verdict, so they asked for a mistrial.
Judge David Campbell questioned all 16 jurors and alternates about whether it concerned any of them or would affect their decision-making.
They all said no.
"I don't believe there is any way for this jury to put that out of their mind entirely," defense attorney Barbara Hull said. "In the interest of justice, a mistrial should be granted."
Campbell disagreed, saying that all the jurors said the incident did not concern them and that they could remain fair and impartial.
