Jurors heard incriminating evidence Friday directly from a man on trial for allegedly killing a woman at the Galleria Mall because she was white.

Phillip Grant, 44, is accused of stabbing Connie Russo Carriero, 56, to death in the mall parking lot in June 2005. The prosecution played a taped police confession, on which Grant is heard saying he killed Carriero because she wasn?t innocent if she was white. He also says he didn?t care as long as the victim had blonde hair and blue eyes. The victim?s husband and sons were visibly shaken by the testimony. The defendant also said in the confession that he was scared of white people. Grant, a homeless black man, is the first person to be charged with murder as a hate crime in Westchester.

The defense has argued that Grant is not the killer and filed a motion for a mistrial Thursday, saying police did not read him his rights. The judge denied the motion. Grant?s attorney says his client is a convicted sex offender, but not a murderer. Rather, the defense claims he ?likes to talk a lot? and even admitted to killing other people.

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