2 Convicted in TWA Evidence Theft

By Pat Milton Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, April 13, 1999; 6:07 p.m. EDT

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- A self-styled investigative reporter and his wife were convicted Tuesday of stealing scraps of upholstery from the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 in an effort to prove his theory that the airliner was shot down by a Navy missile.

A federal jury took two hours to convict James Sanders, 53, and his wife Elizabeth, 52, a former TWA training supervisor, of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the thefts.

The couple from Williamsburg, Va., could get up to 10 years in prison when sentenced July 9.

``I'm shocked,'' Sanders said in a telephone interview after the verdict. ``I'm confident we will prevail. I'm more shocked for my wife, Liz.''

Sanders said he ``wouldn't have started down this road if I wasn't prepared to go to jail. It sends an incredible strong message to journalists.''

All 230 people aboard Flight 800 were killed when the Boeing 747 exploded over the Atlantic on July 17, 1996, just minutes after leaving New York's Kennedy Airport on a flight to Paris. The government has said the plane was destroyed by a fuel tank fire of as-yet unknown origin but has rejected sabotage, terrorism or ``friendly fire'' from the Navy.

In newspaper articles and a 1997 book, ``The Downing of TWA Flight 800,'' Sanders claimed stains on seat upholstery taken from the plane were formed by missile fuel, bolstering his theory. The FBI said the stains were glue.

The government's case relied heavily on the testimony of Terrell Stacey, a former TWA pilot who admitted helping Sanders by stealing crash-related documents and scraps of the seat covering from the hangar where investigators had reassembled the plane's wreckage.

Stacey, who had flown the plane the day before the crash and was assigned by TWA to assist in the investigation, testified against the Sanderses in exchange for being allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge.

Sanders' attorney, Bruce Maffeo, said he will appeal.

He said Sanders was ``a journalist trying to get the truth out'' and made no attempt to hide the fact that the evidence was passed to him.