Gunman's ex-girlfriend testifies in trial over socialite's murder

ATLANTA -- The triggerman in the murder of an Atlanta socialite called the crime a hit for a husband who wanted "to take out" his wife to avoid giving her any money in a divorce, a woman testified Friday.

Belinda Trahan told jurors that her ex-boyfriend, Phillip Harwood, made the comment to her days before Lita Sullivan was shot on her doorstep Jan. 16, 1987, by a man carrying a dozen long-stemmed pink roses.

Millionaire James Sullivan is accused of paying Harwood $25,000 to kill Sullivan, 35. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Harwood is serving 20 years for manslaughter after pleading guilty to killing Sullivan, but in recent years he has denied involvement in the slaying. He is expected to take the stand next week.

Trahan testified that she may have inadvertently given Harwood the idea for using flowers as bait. Harwood complained after his first attempt to do the job that he could not scale a wall to get close to the victim.

She said she told Harwood, "Anyone knows if you want to get a woman to answer the door, all you have to do is take flowers to her." She said she meant it in jest and did not think Harwood would really kill anyone.

A few days later, Harwood said "the job was done," Trahan said.

Trahan also testified about a meeting at a restaurant in which Harwood handed a man a newspaper containing a cash-filled envelope. She pointed to Sullivan's picture as the man who gave the money to Harwood.

But when questioned by defense lawyer Ed Garland, Trahan said she could not remember many details about her conversations with Harwood, including times and places.

Also Friday, James Sullivan's third wife testified he told her his previous wife's killing was "good for us" because he did not have to share any of his money with her.

Hyo-Sook Sullivan, who married the defendant eight months after Lita Sullivan's death, said James Sullivan sounded relieved after the killing.

"I remember he said it's good for us," said the ex-wife, who divorced Sullivan several years later. "He didn't have to divorce her. He didn't have to share with anything. He's complaining he had to share with her."

Sullivan, 64, a Boston native, was once one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives before he was captured in Thailand in 2002. Prosecutors say he arranged Lita Sullivan's slaying because he feared losing money and his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion in the divorce.