PORTLAND, Ore. -- One suggestion was to make life-threatening phone calls. Another - one that "would be easier" - was to use a sniper rifle to kill Nancy Kerrigan.
Cutting her Achilles tendon also came up, but that was too difficult. Running Kerrigan off the road was still another idea.
But when Jeff Gillooly, Harding's ex-husband, left Shawn Eckardt's parents' home in Portland the morning of Dec. 28, he had spent $ 2,000 and had a money-back guarantee from three big men that Kerrigan would be crippled and unable to compete in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The situation would dictate how it was done. The plotting took 45 minutes.
The motive: so Harding would have a better chance to win a second national title.
That's the core of an elaborate plan detailed in Gillooly's 60-page testimony to the FBI, released Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to racketeering in the assault on Kerrigan, Harding's Olympic teammate.
The attack on Kerrigan was supposed to take place in Boston, but the alleged hit man, Shane Stant, couldn't find an opportune time, so when Kerrigan moved to Detroit for the nationals so did Stant. After a practice session Jan. 6 at Cobo Arena in Detroit, he allegedly used a baton to strike Kerrigan on the right knee - her landing knee for jumps - then broke through a glass door and ran to a getaway car.
The questions then began: What did Harding know and when? Did she help with the plot and coverup?
Gillooly answers yes to every question and adds that Harding, being the star, had to give the final go-ahead.
In Gillooly's version, Harding picked him up after the meeting. She laughed about the money-back guarantee and Gillooly said the plan was better than playing the lottery.
Harding was driving south on I-205, across from a Public Storage, when she said, "OK, let's do it."
Gillooly asked Harding for help in getting Kerrigan's skating times, the address of the rink in Boston and a Kerrigan photo.
No problem, Harding said. And if the person answering the phone at Toby Kent Arena was wondering why she wanted to know, "She would say that her daughter is a big fan of Nancy Kerrigan's and they are from out of town, and they would come in to skate and get an autograph."
After getting the information from a woman at the arena, Harding said, "The stupid bitch gave it to me."
On Dec. 28, Gillooly and Harding stopped by Eckardt's house with $ 2,000 - 20 $ 100 bills - and the information.
Eckardt's mother, Agnes, knew about the plot and when Gillooly and Harding jumped into the truck to leave, Harding said something like, "That's kinda neat."
After Eckardt got the plan in motion, Gillooly kept Harding posted. Gillooly believes that on either Dec. 30 or 31, Harding told him she would like it if they could get Nancy Kerrigan in a bar on New Year's Eve because it would tarnish her image.
On Jan. 2, after Gillooly and Harding went four-wheeling in the snow on Mt. Hood, Gillooly told Eckardt that Jan. 3 was the last day to attack Kerrigan. Eckardt told Gillooly that if Kerrigan skated the next day, the job would be done.
That's when the job failed in Boston. Kerrigan was taking quiet time before the nationals. Gillooly didn't believe Eckardt and when Harding found out, she said, "That's bull----."
Harding called the arena to check Eckardt's facts, and found out that Kerrigan had skated early in the morning. For the first time, Harding got the feeling she was being taken.
The mission moved to Detroit, but Gillooly was unsure if the job could get done there because of security.
Eckardt figured the job could get done in Detroit, with new information. So Gillooly called Harding to ask for the address of Kerrigan's hotel, skating rinks, her practice times and room number. Gillooly said Harding came up with it all.
On Jan. 6, when Kerrigan was hit, nobody could believe it.
Gillooly, who had been out with friends until 3: 30 a.m., said he was awakened by a call around noon from Harding.
"It happened," Harding said, according to his testimony.
"What happened?" Gillooly said.
"Nancy. They did it."
"You're kidding."
"No."
"Did they get away?"
"I don't know."
Gillooly said he'd call Eckardt and call her back.
When Eckardt answered the phone, Gillooly said, "It happened." Eckardt didn't believe him.
Gillooly told Eckardt to get the VCR cranked up, then went to Eckardt's house. His mother kept saying, "You had better get them out of there."
Gillooly was worried. Smith and Stant "didn't use their credit cards, did they? They didn't fly there under their own names, did they?"
Eckardt said, "Of course not."
Smith and Stant had some hurdles to overcome to get at Kerrigan, Eckardt told Gillooly: They had to duct tape a security guard and the night before, they had to beat up a journalist in a bar to steal the credentials so they could have access to the area and make the hit.
As Stant hit Kerrigan, Eckardt told Gillooly that Stant said, "I spent 29 hours on a bus (Boston to Detroit) for you."
Eckardt was saying that he had altered world history. Gillooly started watching recordings of the news broadcasts.
The next step was the coverup. The idea was for Eckardt to compose a letter about being the couple's bodyguard.
So Eckardt wrote a letter to Gillooly that read, "I recommend we place a protective detail around Tonya 24 hours a day, and we will eliminate the hazards to her safety."
The alibi was simple: Gillooly said he told Eckardt the story would be that Eckardt sent Smith to Detroit to solicit business for Eckardt's World Bodyguard Services.
Days later, Gillooly said he discussed with Harding the fabricated story they would tell the FBI. And Gillooly wanted to change the story to implicate Eckardt, who Gillooly thought was implicating them.
On Jan. 17, the night before Harding met with the FBI, Gillooly said he asked Harding to tell the truth to their lawyers, but Harding refused, saying she would look bad.
After 10 hours meeting with the FBI, Gillooly and Harding talked to each other. Gillooly said Harding assured him she hadn't implicated him, but then said she "really screwed up."
Gillooly said Harding told him they had been under FBI surveillance since they returned from Detroit. She also told Gillooly that she'd got caught in some of her lies. She told Gillooly that she was going to jail.
