Danny Rocha loves to hear the sound of his voice.

     He spoke loudly and clearly as he spoke his most shocking testimony. Danny Rocha told jurors Allen Blackthorne wanted his ex-wife, Sheila Bellush, "crippled, in a wheelchair with no tongue." The prosecution's star witness took the stand around 4 p.m. on Monday and continued to answer questions until almost 7 p.m. on Tuesday. A Sarasota jury convicted Rocha in January 1999 for his role in the killing of Bellush, mother of six.

     Rocha's enjoyment as he explained the intricacies of his bookie business and golf hustling habits was obvious. He described how he moved from a modest home packed with his family of five and extended relatives into a lavish mansion with an income that often exceeded $10,000 a week. He moved jurors from a life spent on golf courses with some of Texas' wealthiest citizens into a murder-for-hire plot that moved back and forth between slow torture and death.

      Danny was not only the star witness but the star attraction. The promise of crafty courtroom choreography drew a crowd to San Antonio's Federal courthouse. Standing room only meant spectators rushing to grab a ringside seat for the Blackthorne trial. Everyone from local attorneys to a pair of older ladies dressed in their Sunday best wanted to hear what Rocha had to say about his former golfing partner. Most seemed to hang on every word, hardly moving from their seats and openly admiring the legal maneuvering on both sides. But when Rocha described Blackthorne's request to rip out Bellush's tongue a wave of shock swept over the courtroom ...the ladies in their Sunday best could only raise their hand to their mouths in disbelief.

     Blackthorne merely yawned.

     Then Blackthorne's legal team took over. What a show. You could only marvel as you watched West Palm Beach Attorney Richard Lubin in action. He hammered Rocha with the many different stories the convicted killer has given authorities in the past. He made Rocha admit he had spent 45 hours with the prosecution prepping for this trial. And as Lubin peppered him with questions Rocha's one-time perfect grammar and confident speech started to slip. He testified that Blackthorne "never actually ordered the murder." Rocha says he agreed to a beating in exchange for Blackthorne's backing in a new sports bar. So Lubin asked Rocha, "and all you were gonna do was ask Allen for $400,000 to slap her?" The defense claims Rocha planned the killing to either ingratiate himself with Blackthorne, who told him Bellush abused his daughters, or blackmail Blackthorne.

     Lubin says Rocha is now looking for some sort of a deal. He showed the court a letter from federal prosecutor John Murphy promising Rocha if he testified he would put in a good word for him with Sarasota prosecutors in the chance they decide to try to reduce his life sentence. If not Rocha's attorney says his client at the very least would move from a Florida prison to a facility closer to his family in California.

     In the midst of it all Rocha spoke his single clearest thought of the day. He admitted "I know I have given different versions. I just feel that everybody is gonna have to come to their own conclusion."