INDEPTH: SNIPER ATTACKS
Introduction
CBC News Online | March 10, 2004
On March 9, 2004, John Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia for his role in masterminding one of the most publicized shooting sprees in U.S. history.
The apparently random attacks in 2002 killed 10 people and left residents of the Washington, D.C., area frightened of going about their daily routines.
In November 2003, a jury convicted Muhammad of all four counts against him for masterminding the shootings, and recommended that he receive the death penalty.
The other man involved in the shootings, John Lee Malvo, was found guilty of capital murder for the death of Linda Franklin in one of the sniper shootings. On March 10, 2004, a Virginia judge followed the jury recommendation and sentenced Malvo, 18, to life in prison.
Malvo had pleaded not guilty to two counts of capital murder and one count of using a firearm in a felony in the killing of Franklin on Oct. 14, 2002.
His lawyer argued that his client was not guilty by reason of insanity because Malvo was brainwashed by John Muhammad.
One count accused him of taking part in the killings of 10 people and the other accused him of using those killings to terrorize the population. He was also found guilty of conspiracy and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The Beltway shootings
By the time of the last shooting on Oct. 22, 2002, 10 people were dead in Maryland and Virginia, and three others were wounded.
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John Allen Muhammad stands as he is sentenced to death March 9, 2004.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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The terror came to an end on Oct. 24, 2002, when police arrested Muhammad and 17-year-old John Lee Malvo in connection with the attacks.
That day police said they had seized a rifle from Muhammad's car that had fired the bullets that killed most of the victims.
The break in the case came when a person purporting to be the sniper called a tip line and suggested police look into two shootings in Alabama on Sept. 21, 2002.
Another tip told police to check a fingerprint found at the site of the Sept. 21
attack. It belonged to Malvo whose prints were on record with U.S. immigration authorities.
During the trial the prosecution argued that even if Muhammad, a Gulf War veteran, did not pull the trigger on the .223-calibre Bushmaster rifle, they believe he was the mastermind behind a reign of terror and directly controlled the actions of teenage sniper suspect, Lee Malvo.
The prosecution, which called on 154 witnesses, painted a picture of Muhammad as a man who had become a father figure to Malvo and swayed him to do his bidding.
"(Malvo) is a young man he moulded and made an instrument of death and destruction," said lead prosecutor Paul Ebert.
The defence, which called on five witnesses, argued that Muhammad did not pull the trigger that killed Meyers and that there was no proof that a father-son relationship led to the murders.
Muhammad's attorneys argued that Muhammad should not get the death penalty because under Virginia law, only a triggerman can get the death penalty.
Muhammad did not take the stand in his own defence.
The costs to defend Muhammad and Malvo are expected to near $1 million US.
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