HAMBURG, N.Y. — A Western New York relative of one of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is now reacting to the federal government plea deal with some of the accused planners.
2 On Your Side spoke with attorney Paul Walier of Hamburg. His sister, Margaret, was killed in the September 2001 attacks as she was trying to help others escape from the South Tower of the World Trade Center, which then collapsed.
As we approach the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, a letter to the Walier family sent out Wednesday by Defense Department prosecutors notifies them of a pending plea deal in the case against the alleged plotters who were captured in 2003.
Three of the five defendants, notably Khalid Shiek Mohammed — who is said to be the alleged mastermind of the 2001 airline hijackings, destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and other potential targets — are now seeking pre-trial agreements in this military tribunal as announced in the letter.
In exchange for removing the death penalty, they will plead guilty to the deaths of 2,976 people — including Margaret Walier Seeliger, who was originally from Hamburg and was in the South Tower.
2 On Your Side heard this Thursday afternoon from her brother, who is an attorney: "It's simply a disgrace. I mean, what is the point of having a federal death penalty statute if you're not going to use it on a case like this."
The government letter notes there have been over two years of legal negotiations over the case, and with this new development, families could make victim impact statements in open federal court, perhaps at their sentencing in September 2025.
Walier responded this way: "These people are just ... they're evil. They're the devil. Anything saying to them they're not going to die by the hands of the state, or the by the government, I don't think they care one way or the other what you say."
He added that they are "international terrorists that want to kill every single person in America. I don't know the purpose of that. Whether my family would participate in that? I'm not sure."
Some legal experts feel the U.S. government wants to avoid further discussion of the now outlawed waterboarding torture tactic used on the defendants at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison.
"Some of the government's tactics could have come in and stuff like that. But you've got to show it all. You've got to put these people to death," Walier said.
Walier said his family is still pursuing a federal civil suit, which claims the Saudi Arabian government was involved with the terrorists prior to the attacks. Government officials in Saudi Arabia have denied any such contact.
Walier says at times he also feels like their attorneys and those of other families are at times battling the U.S. government, which they feel may not want to disclose all the information on what occurred before the attacks. He emphasizes they are not pressing conspiracy theories, but they do want full disclosure.