Web site dishes day-to-day dirt on murder trial

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter

	DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES Donna Larsen, left, and Hilary Bramwell Mohr have been following the murder trial of Atif Rafay and Sebastian Burns in King County Superior Court.
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Sebastian Burns, on trial in Seattle for three counts of murder, wears his pants cinched unfashionably high at the waist.

His codefendant, Atif Rafay, is tiny. His attorneys have been unable to find a 30-inch belt to fit him.

One of Rafay's attorneys, Veronica Frietas, argues with the court clerk and has said prosecutors want her moved into the hall. She also apparently toys with a laser pointer, drawing laughter by pointing it at people and saying, "Bang! You're dead!"

Those gossipy tidbits, about one of the most complicated, high-profile and otherwise extremely serious trials to hit King County Superior Court in years, are among many others found on a new Web site that has become something of a must read among those following the case.

The Web site, www.trialdiary.com, is the product of two local women, Donna Larsen and Hilary Bramwell Mohr, who offer day-by-day details of the trial, from testimony and forensic evidence, to funny moments and casual observations about the many players and observers.

The women say they started the site to boost their chances of getting into law school. And despite their sometimes tongue-in-cheek observations, both women said they hold the proceedings in the highest regard.

"We don't want people to think that we're belittling what happens in there or that all we think about is fashion," Mohr said.

Larsen, 33, and Mohr, 23, met each other online 10 years ago. Larsen was the editor of a fanzine about the musician Beck. Mohr, then 13, was one of her regular contributors.

A few years ago, they reconnected in Seattle, both looking to fulfill their goals of going to law school.

Larsen, a philosophy student at Bellevue Community College, says she is drawn to law by an addiction to true-crime writing and a burning curiosity about human behavior. Mohr, who has a political-science degree from the University of Washington, says she wants to be a lawyer to use her talent for arguing and to "do a bit of good."
 
After Mohr's application to the UW Law School was rejected last year, the friends decided they needed to do something to stand out from the thousands of other applicants.

Initially, they planned to cover the trial of serial killer Gary L. Ridgway. But Ridgway pleaded guilty, avoiding a trial in the Green River killings cases.

The two then found the trial of Rafay, 27, and Burns, 28, who are accused of aggravated murder in the 1994 bludgeoning deaths of Rafay's parents, Tariq and Sultana, and sister, Basma, in their Bellevue home.

"It's such an interesting case," Larsen said.

Now their Web site offers their personal observations as often as they can get to court to watch.

"The most dramatic moment of the day came when they rolled a very large ... piece of evidence over to the jury," Larsen wrote one day. "It is a piece of the wall that was behind the bed of Dr. (Tariq) Rafay the night he was murdered. It is covered in the most horrific blood spatter."

On another day, Mohr wrote:

"Burns is better dressed today: a familiar gray sweater is back, but not tucked-in this time!

" ... Everyone seems in bizarrely high spirits today. EVERYONE is joking and chatting with everyone else — even Sebastian Burns, which is something I haven't observed before."

Mohr said she has been surprised by how few people come to watch the trial. So she hopes the site helps people see what court is really like.

A local attorney, who didn't want his name published, said he visits the site to get the real news on the trial.

"It's really funny, and I feel like I get a better feeling for what's really going on in there," he said.

Larsen and Mohr said they also have been surprised by how tedious the trial has been.

But even the longer, more boring days haven't changed their minds about their ambitions.

"It's the most interesting thing I've ever seen," Mohr said.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

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