New Evidence in Alabama Bombing Trial

April 27, 2001 -- FBI informant Mitch Burns may be the prosecution's star witness in the ongoing trial for the 1963 bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church. The bombing, thought to be racially motivated, killed four young black girls.

Burns, now 73, was enlisted by the FBI 37 years ago to befriend and secretly tape conversations with Thomas Blanton, one of the bombing suspects.

Blanton was one of four members of the Ku Klux Klan identified as suspects by the FBI shortly after the bombing, but FBI director J. Edgar Hoover blocked prosecution of the case claiming an Alabama jury would never convict white men in a crime against blacks. Blanton now faces four counts of murder.

Hidden Tape Recorder

A former Klansman, informant Burns says he agreed to cooperate with the FBI after seeing the gruesome pictures of the four victims. "It shocked me so much, I said I'd do anything I could," he tells 20/20.

For the next four years, Burns says he kept a hidden tape recorder in the trunk of his car and recorded the many conversations he had with Blanton as they drove around town.

In what appear to be transcripts from the tapes, obtained by 20/20, a man identified as Blanton frequently and casually talks about bombings. The prosecution may use the tapes as evidence in presenting its case against Blanton.

The transcripts also indicate a fascination with the bombed church that repeatedly drew Blanton back to the scene of the crime. Burns says he often seemed "possessed" while driving by the church.

'Ain't Gonna Catch Me'

In a Feb. 17, 1965 recording, the two men are parked outside the church and a man identified as Blanton says, "The boys done a good job on this one, there are a few Negroes now who won't grow up to bother us." He then answers Burns' questions about whether dynamite was used and whether it was planted in the church or thrown. "Throwed it," the man responds with a laugh.

In another occasion, on Feb. 25, 1965, the man says "Boomingham bombing … They ain't gonna catch me when I bomb my next church."

"How did you do that?" Burns asks.

"Oh it wasn't easy boy, I'll tell you," the man replies.

When questioned by investigators, Blanton steadfastly maintained his innocence, claiming he was with his girlfriend until 2:30 in the morning on the day of the bombing. He recently told 20/20 he was hoping the trial would confirm this and allow him to return to his life. "It would mean I could be accepted as a human being," he says.

No Smoking Gun

Blanton's attorney, John Robbins, said in the opening statement of the trial that in the '60s his client was a loudmouth and a segregationist, but says there is no proof that he is guilty of the bombing.

In fact, in the transcripts obtained by 20/20, there is no smoking gun. The man identified as Blanton never actually admits to bombing the church and in some excerpts he places the blame elsewhere.

In a recording from March 5, 1965, Burns says, "That's the place you bombed," referring to the 16th Street Church.

"No, I didn't bomb that one; that's the one you got," says the man.

Even the government's star witness is not convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Blanton bombed the church. "They have no real proof in my estimation," Burns says, "Maybe he's innocent, I don't know."

If found guilty, Blanton faces a possible life sentence. As for Burns, the government has offered to relocate him for his own protection but he has declined. "I'm going to face it because when you tell the truth, you don't run," he says.

Blanton was indicted last May along with Robert Cherry, another of the original suspects, and the two men were supposed to be tried together. But Cherry's case was postponed because he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

The only one of the four original suspects to be convicted was former Klansman Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chamblis, who was found guilty in 1977. Herman Cash, the fourth suspect, died in 1994 without ever being charged.