Jurors heard about two sides of Jason Paul Doty during the first day of testimony in his first-degree murder trial in the death of a Tohono Chul Park security guard.
A former cellmate testified that Doty's beliefs in a blend of Aryan supremacy and Satanism were possible motives for murdering a person.
During cross-examination by Doty's attorneys, that same cellmate told how Doty wanted to found a nonprofit church based on those beliefs and launch several legitimate business ventures.
Doty, 29, faces the death penalty if convicted of the March 2000 murder of Grady Mitchell Towers, 55. The security guard was shot seven times at the Northwest Side park in an apparent attempted robbery.
Most of Thursday's trial was devoted to the testimony of Doty's former cellmate, Thomas Frumson, an inmate who practiced Doty's own belief system of "Aryan Satanism."
Frumson, in prison on an attempted- murder conviction, said he met Doty in 1996 in a hard-labor program. At the time, Frumson said, he was an "Identity Christian," a person who believes God created the Aryan race but not others. Frumson said he converted to Aryan Satanism after meeting Doty.
Anyone whose blood was "85 percent" Caucasian was eligible to join the sect, whose ultimate goal was to wage a race war. A slogan of the group - which included Frumson, Doty and one other person - was "White Pride, World Wide." They considered themselves "wolves," perfect predators who preyed on "doves," or anyone who did not uphold the Aryan Satanist beliefs, Frumson said.
Frumson said he was Doty's "right hand" who was supposed to weed out people not loyal to their cause. He said Doty didn't get along with members of a much larger white prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood, in part because some of its members did not appreciate his Satanist beliefs.
Frumson said he agreed to testify in Doty's trial after deciding several months ago that he needed to "turn his life around."
Bobbi Berry, one of Doty's attorneys, questioned Frumson about other motives for his testimony.
Berry asked Frumson if he planned to mention his testimony in this case to the parole board when he became eligible later this year. Frumson said he wouldn't bring up his role in Doty's case because "it would be disrespectful to the person that died." He also said he felt some fellow inmates would want to kill him because he was testifying.
Prosecutors had asked the media not to use Frumson's name in news accounts. The Arizona Daily Star, which had published Frumson's name in an earlier story, declined that request because Frumson is testifying in open court.
Frumson talked about a letter sent to him by Doty in which he said his plans would be under way by the spring equinox of the year 2000. Towers was killed on the equinox. Prosecutors say Doty believed he could attain magical powers by killing a white person in a violent manner. The letter is an indication of that, prosecutors said.
Berry indicated that in the letter - which also describes Doty's correspondence with a member of a heavy-metal group - Doty is actually talking about his plans to spread his beliefs through literature and music. Under questioning from Berry, Frumson acknowledged that Doty talked about undertaking legitimate business ventures, such as opening a nightclub centered around Aryan Satanist themes.