Terminal 9 of JFK International Airport in New York. Photo: wiki commons.

Russell Defreitas was sentenced to life in prison in 2010 after being convicted of a jihadist plot to blow up fuel pipelines at JFK International Airport, but according to newly released court documents, Defreitas planned to kill key witnesses and his “Jewish attorney”, before the trial against him began.

“Defreitas told [an informant] that he wants his Jewish attorney dead because she is the reason his first attorney was removed from his case,” prosecutors wrote in newly unsealed documents.

Defreitas was arrested in 2007 after an undercover policeman was recruited to take part in the JFK plot, along with Kareem Ibrahim, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir, all of whom were extradited to the U.S. and convicted of planning the attack.

The complaint filed in court charging the four men included a recording of a statement made by Defreitas to the government’s informant.

“Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow. . . . They love John F. Kennedy like he’s the man. . . . If you hit that, the whole country will be in mourning. It’s like you can kill the man twice.”