April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, a jury said in a decision that sends the confessed Sept. 11 conspirator's sentencing trial to a second phase to determine life or death.

The jury in Alexandria, Virginia, said prosecutors proved his actions led to at least one death in the attacks. Moussaoui testified he had known about the terrorism plot when he was arrested a month earlier and lied to FBI agents because he wanted the mission to go forward. He also said he had planned to hijack a fifth plane on Sept. 11 and fly it into the White House.

``The jury has found that death is a possible sentence in this case,'' court public information officer Edward Adams said in announcing the verdict outside the courthouse. The jury found Moussaoui eligible for capital punishment on all three counts that carry a possible death penalty.

Moussaoui, 37, pleaded guilty in April 2005 to conspiracy charges linked to the attacks. He is the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with Sept. 11. He took the witness stand against his lawyers' advice and testified that he knew about the plot and lied to FBI agents when he was arrested on immigration charges in Minnesota on Aug. 16, 2001.

``You'll never get my blood!'' Moussaoui shouted after U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema and the jury left the courtroom today. Before he entered the courtroom, he could be heard shouting ``Allah akhbar'' or ``God is great'' from the next room. Moussaoui refused to stand for the judge's entrance into the courtroom or for the reading of the sentence.

17 Hours

The jury deliberated for about 17 hours over four days. In the second part of the sentencing trial, which will begin April 6, the jury will consider factors weighing for and against capital punishment to decide whether to sentence Moussaoui to death. A verdict of death must be unanimous.

``We are pleased with the jury's ruling in this important case,'' said Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos. ``Our efforts on behalf of the victims of 9/11 will continue as we pursue the next phase of this trial.''

Eric Muller, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that in the second phase ``the government is still going to have to put on a very compelling case that he deserves to die for this.''

``This is a man who seems intent on his own execution at this point,'' Muller said. ``This is not a defendant who is going to be fighting for his life.''

Shoe Bomber

Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, told the jury that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid had planned to hijack a fifth jetliner as part of the Sept. 11 attacks and fly it into the White House.

Prosecutors said his lies to federal agents prevented them from uncovering the Sept. 11 plot. They said he is responsible for the deaths of almost 3,000 people when 19 terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and flew two of them into the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth plane crashed near Pittsburgh.

Abraham Scott of Springfield, Virginia, whose wife, Janice Marie Scott, died in the Pentagon attack, said outside the courthouse he was ``very emotional'' at hearing the verdict.

``I thought I would be elated, but I wasn't,'' Scott said. He said he favors putting Moussaoui to death, and that during the trial's second phase jurors should hear ``how it feels to lose the loved one.''

`Darned Good Job'

``I think the jury did a darned good job,'' said Rosemary Dillard of Alexandria, Virginia, whose husband Eddie died on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. She works for American Airlines and supervised four of the flight attendants who died on Sept. 11. ``This man has no soul, no conscience. What else could we ask for'' besides the death penalty, she told reporters outside the court.

Moussaoui ``came to this country to kill as many Americans as he could,'' prosecutor David Raskin said during closing arguments last week. If the government had known what Moussaoui knew the month before the attacks, three of the four hijacker pilots would have been put on a no-fly list, the prosecutor said.

Defense lawyer Edward McMahon told the jury that Moussaoui's only involvement in Sept. 11 ``was in his dreams.'' Moussaoui's testimony was ``a tall tale, a whopper even for a convicted felon, a liar,'' the defense lawyer said. ``Moussaoui is obligated to lie to you because he's at war.''

Moussaoui pleaded guilty to six counts that included conspiracy to commit acts of international terrorism, to commit aircraft piracy resulting in death, and to destroy an aircraft resulting in death. Three counts carry a possible death penalty.

Led to Death

At the time of his guilty plea, he maintained that his plan to fly a commercial jetliner into the White House was separate from the 2001 attacks. That changed when Moussaoui took the witness stand last week and said his plan was to have been part of the Sept. 11 plot.

To win a jury finding that Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors were required to prove that his actions directly led to at least one death on Sept. 11. The jury answered ``yes'' to that question on all three counts.

The case is U.S. vs. Moussaoui, 01cr455, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).

To contact the reporters on this story: Cary O'Reilly in Atlantic City at caryoreilly@bloomberg.net; Bill Arthur in Washington at barthur@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 3, 2006 17:15 EDT