Archived coverage: Sniper shootings

Car bombs, sniper attacks kill, wound many in Iraq

Suicide car bombers struck twice yesterday in the northern city of Mosul, killing at least six people and wounding dozens of others, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. A car bomb killed seven other people in Baghdad.

Federal prison deal for Malvo opposed

The Virginia prosecutors of snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad say they oppose allowing Malvo to serve his life sentence in a federal prison as part of any far-reaching plea agreement, as has been suggested in recent months.

Tragic tale comes into focus

After John Allen Muhammad was found guilty of six counts of murder in a Montgomery County courthouse last week, Vickie Snider - whose brother James "Sonny" Buchanan was shot to death by the sniper while riding a lawn mower outside an auto dealership in Silver Spring - talked to the media while State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler looked on.

Families confront sniper

More than three years after a sniper's bullet felled Conrad Johnson as he stood in the doorway of a Montgomery County bus, Sonia Wills had the opportunity yesterday to confront her son's convicted killer.

A glimpse into the thinking of sniper jury

As jurors in the murder trial of John Allen Muhammad huddled in the small deliberation room of the Montgomery County courthouse, the case finally in their hands after some three weeks of testimony, they began by discussing the evidence in each of the six shootings one at a time, noting where they found gaps and questions.

Guilty verdict in sniper rampage

John Allen Muhammad was convicted yesterday of murder in the 2002 sniper rampage that killed six people in Montgomery County, ending a trial in which his claim of being framed was eclipsed by his protege's riveting portrayal of Muhammad as the creator of a scheme to terrorize the nation.

Reaction

Victims' relatives share pain of trial, joy of verdict

As the first guilty verdict was read in a Montgomery County courtroom yesterday, Oladell Martin covered her mouth and nose with her hands.

Charges Elsewhere

More trials hinge on Va. permission

John Allen Muhammad's conviction in Montgomery County clears the way for murder trials in other jurisdictions where bullets from the sniper's gun allegedly claimed victims - including Louisiana, Alabama and the District of Columbia.

Sniper jury to debate

A Maryland jury was expected to begin deliberations today in John Allen Muhammad's second sniper trial, after jurors saw four weeks of evidence against him and heard Muhammad's claims that he was framed.

What we fear probably won't hurt us

In providing the first inside account of the sniper shootings, Lee Boyd Malvo offered a graphic reminder of why the region was gripped by fear for three weeks in October 2002. The killings were random, senseless, horrific. They were meant to scare us, and they worked.

Bizarre end to sniper defense

The murder trial of John Allen Muhammad wound down strangely yesterday as a prosecutor described the alleged sniper as a "pathetic coward" and Muhammad gave a rambling 3 1/2 -hour closing argument in which he quoted the Bible, alleged a government conspiracy and said he was framed.

Muhammad frustrated

With his murder trial entering its final days, John Allen Muhammad's once-confident tone gave way yesterday to frustration and confusion as his witnesses failed to poke holes in the elaborate case put on by prosecutors and the judge refused to extend the deadline to permit him to bring in witnesses from out of state.

Malvo, sniper tangle again

John Allen Muhammad tangled with Lee Boyd Malvo in an aggressive cross-examination of his former protege yesterday, then erupted in anger at prosecutors who tried to limit Muhammad's questioning in his sniper murder trial.

Muhammad, Malvo vie for upper hand

The subtle but unmistakable power struggle between John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo continued yesterday in the Montgomery County courtroom where Muhammad is on trial for six sniper murders.

Malvo story of Baltimore plot called 'alarming,' 'sobering'

Testimony that the alleged Washington-area snipers had plans to shoot and bomb school buses and other targets in Baltimore, had they not been caught, prompted a ripple of emotions around the area yesterday.

On stand, Malvo calmly recounts mayhem plot

Lee Boyd Malvo walked into the packed courtroom yesterday in a dark suit and white shirt and barely looked at the man he once considered his father.

City targeted, Malvo says

Unveiling a master plan that dwarfed the October 2002 random sniper shootings, Lee Boyd Malvo told jurors yesterday that had he and John Allen Muhammad not been caught, the two planned to make Baltimore the center of a murderous campaign in which they would have used explosives against children and police.

Case against Muhammad builds

As forensic evidence mounts against the pair that authorities say were the 2002 sniper team, Lee Boyd Malvo is due in a courtroom here this morning, expected to testify that John Allen Muhammad brainwashed him into joining in a murderous rampage.

Malvo to face former mentor

Lee Boyd Malvo is expected to take the stand against the man who calls him "my son" as early as today, in what promises to be the most dramatic moment so far in the Montgomery County murder trial of John Allen Muhammad.

Rifle linked to sniper suspect

As the prosecution moves toward the expected testimony of Lee Boyd Malvo as early as Monday, a ballistics expert testified yesterday that all but two of the people hit by sniper's bullets during the 2002 Washington-area shootings could only have been shot by the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle found in John Allen Muhammad's car at the time of his arrest.

Sniper evidence detailed

John Allen Muhammad appeared frustrated and irate yesterday as expert witnesses began linking him to the 2002 sniper shootings with forensic evidence culled from the Bushmaster rifle and rifle sight found in his car when he and a young accomplice were arrested.

Sniper jurors view Caprice

Jurors saw the dark blue Chevrolet Caprice yesterday in which John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested - a 1990 sedan that prosecutors say Muhammad turned into a sniper's lair in the fall of 2002.

Malvo helping prosecution

Lee Boyd Malvo, the young Jamaican prosecuted as John Allen Muhammad's accomplice in a deadly sniper rampage in 2002, has provided information to police in recent months, indicating that a deal might be close for Malvo to testify against the man who still calls him "my son."

Jurors to see 'deadly Caprice'

With its tinted windows, dark-blue paint and white interior, the 1990 Chevrolet Caprice attracted little attention as it glided through the region in that awful fall of 2002.

Final sniper slaying detailed

Prosecutors reached the final sniper slaying in the murder trial of John Allen Muhammad in a Montgomery County courtroom yesterday, while the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of his Virginia death sentence for another of the serial killings.

Sniper defense dwells on minutiae

Yellow legal pad in hand, convicted killer John Allen Muhammad pointedly questions a Virginia police officer who has identified Muhammad as the man he stopped behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Caprice, and released, during a police dragnet near an Oct. 9, 2002, sniper-style killing in Manassas, Va.

Va. officer is questioned by Muhammad at trial

John Allen Muhammad and a Virginia police officer who says he encountered and questioned him a half-hour after a killing got into a testy courtroom exchange yesterday, as Muhammad repeatedly asked him the same questions.

Muhammad questions survivor

In a strange courtroom drama, a survivor of the October 2002 sniper shootings in the Washington area came face to face yesterday with the man suspected of trying to kill her.

Sniper prosecution continues

Brought into the courtroom and nattily attired in a beige suit from the closet of one of his standby lawyers, sniper John Allen Muhammad greeted the judge, lawyers and court personnel yesterday: "Good morning, everyone."

Sniper testimony begins

One was reading a book in bed when the awful call came. Another was trying to get her young niece to take an after-lunch nap when two policemen came to her house.

Muhammad cites the Gospel, Plato

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad told a jury yesterday that he came to the Washington area on a desperate search for his children, and that he was shocked when he and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, whom he called "my son," were yanked from their car by authorities and accused of being the snipers who laid siege to the region in 2002.

Defendant impresses as 'smooth'

He didn't take two hours and one minute, as he had threatened.

Publicity plays role on Muhammad jury

One by one, they walk down the aisle, some 300 prospective jurors, stealing glances around the nearly empty courtroom, before their eyes flash on the man for whom they are here.

Sniper could face Malvo

John Allen Muhammad would get to confront the youth he used to refer to as "my son" and "sniper" during an alleged murderous rampage in 2002 under terms of a deal that prosecutors are trying to work out with lawyers for Lee Boyd Malvo, according to sources.

Views of jury pool trouble sniper

The difficulty of finding jurors in Montgomery County who had not decided that convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad was responsible for the county's six sniper killings in 2002 became immediately apparent yesterday as the presiding judge questioned the first batch of 300 potential jurors.

Bracing for the sniper trial

Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera was the shy little girl with fine blond hair, the teenager who didn't use profanity, the young woman absorbed in mystery novels and, finally, a 25-year-old nanny thousands of miles from home. She was Marion and Jo Lewis' daughter, Nelson Rivera's wife and Jocelin's mom.

Judge denies Muhammad's request for trial delay

Sporting a new close-cropped haircut in his last court appearance before his six-count murder trial starts here Monday, convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad asked a Montgomery County judge yesterday first to delay, then to move, the trial.

City lawyers are standby counsel for Muhammad

Three Baltimore lawyers were named yesterday to act as standby counsel for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, whose trial on six counts of first-degree murder in Montgomery County is scheduled to start Monday.

Sniper's attorneys quit murder trial

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad will not have public defenders standing by to help him as he represents himself in his Montgomery County murder trial.

Muhammad ruled competent

Despite claims from his defense lawyers that he is mentally ill, convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad is competent to stand trial and will be allowed to act as his own lawyer at his Montgomery County murder trial that begins May 1, a county judge ruled yesterday.

Sniper Muhammad loses 2 pretrial motions

A combative John Allen Muhammad came to court yesterday with a list of complaints, including allegations that jailers have restricted his access to court documents in his trial in six Montgomery County sniper killings and disagreements with his attorneys over legal filings.

Execution of sniper won't be sought

Montgomery County's top prosecutor said yesterday that he has decided not to seek the death penalty for sniper John Allen Muhammad when he is tried on murder charges this year.

Wounds heal, memories linger

Some nights, as Paul LaRuffa bustles past the bar en route to the kitchen of his restaurant, he feels the stares and overhears snatches of whispered conversation: That's the guy who was shot.

Montgomery judge tells Muhammad to end hunger strike or be force-fed

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad was ordered yesterday by a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge to end his hunger strike or he will be force-fed if his health deteriorates.

Muhammad moved to Maryland prison for 2nd murder trial

Death row inmate John Allen Muhammad was transported to Maryland from Virginia under heavy guard early yesterday to await trial with co-defendant Lee Boyd Malvo on six more counts of murder in the 2002 Washington-area sniper killings.

Judge orders Muhammad moved to Md. for 2nd trial

A judge in Virginia ordered yesterday that death row inmate John Allen Muhammad be moved to Maryland, where he faces a second trial in the 2002 Washington-area sniper attacks.

County sheriff sees snipers' trial as costly

ROCKVILLE -- The cost of securing the Montgomery County courthouse for the expected trials of the Washington-area snipers could cost up to a half-million dollars, according to the county sheriff, an indication that trying the pair again might not be as inexpensive as some officials have said.

Malvo sent from Virginia to Maryland for trial in 2002 sniper killings

CLARKSBURG - Convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo returned to Maryland from Virginia yesterday and is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility to await trial on charges of killing six people during the Washington-area sniper shootings 2 1/2 years ago.

Snipers to be tried in Maryland

Convicted snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo will return to stand trial in Maryland, site of six of the 10 sniper killings that paralyzed Washington-area residents with fear 2 1/2 years ago.

Muhammad may represent himself in his second Virginia murder case

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad -- who briefly acted as his attorney in his first trial and told jurors he was at the fatal shooting of the man he was accused of killing -- has considered a reprise of the lawyer role for his second capital murder trial.

Judge in sniper case decides to step aside

The judge who was to preside over the next capital murder trial of John Allen Muhammad has abruptly recused himself, after prosecutors alleged that he wrongly conducted his own investigation into whether the convicted sniper has been denied a speedy trial.

Judge in sniper case is asked to remove self

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Prosecutors said yesterday that the judge in the second death-penalty case of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad should remove himself from the case because he improperly conducted his own investigation into a critical pretrial dispute.

Sniper's lawyers lose bid to prevent 2nd capital trial

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Lawyers for John Allen Muhammad failed yesterday to prevent a second capital murder trial in Virginia for the convicted sniper, after a judge ruled that another prosecution for his alleged role in the sniper shootings does not constitute double jeopardy or violate state law.

Judge says attorney can prosecute sniper

FAIRFAX, Va. -- A judge said yesterday that Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. can prosecute convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad in his second capital murder trial, rejecting a defense bid to bar the veteran prosecutor and his staff from trying Muhammad in the shooting death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin.

Muhammad defense team seeks retrial

MANASSAS, Va. - Statements purportedly made by a lawyer from Washington state and the youngest daughter of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad should not have been admitted during the penalty phase of the case, defense attorneys said in a motion for a new trial.

Convicted sniper Muhammad moved to Va. death row

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad was transferred without incident from a Northern Virginia jail to death row yesterday, according to a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Va. judge sentences Malvo to life terms

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Somber and silent to the end, 19- year-old Lee Boyd Malvo was given two life sentences without parole yesterday for his role in the suburban sniper attacks that left 10 dead during three weeks of terror around the nation's capital in October 2002.

Death sentence is confirmed for serial sniper Muhammad

MANASSAS, Va. - John Allen Muhammad, the ex-soldier turned suburban sniper whose attacks took 10 lives in and around the nation's capital, was sentenced to death yesterday in a courtroom packed with the tearful relatives of those he killed.

Victims' families find closure in sentence

MANASSAS, Va. - The families of the sniper victims spent so many days in court together during the six-week trial of John Allen Muhammad last fall that they greeted each other like old friends at the courthouse yesterday, their bonds forged by the losses they shared.

Judge asked to spare sniper

More than 50 relatives and friends of the sniper victims are expected in a Virginia courtroom this morning for the sentencing of John Allen Muhammad - a haunting reminder for the trial judge of the pain caused by the shooting rampage that left 10 people dead in the Washington region.

Muhammad attorneys seek to overturn verdict

Defense attorneys for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad wanted to argue that their client suffered from an "abnormal brain" and "neurological deficits" about the time of the shootings that left 10 dead in October 2002, according to reports from mental health experts made public yesterday.

Malvo lawyer appeals for 'love,' as prosecutor demands 'justice'

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Defense lawyer Craig S. Cooley stood before the jurors who will decide a sentence for Lee Boyd Malvo and made a final plea yesterday for the convicted sniper's life, distilling three weeks of evidence into 30 minutes of eloquence. Then, after the jury left the courtroom to begin its work, Cooley sat down and sobbed.

Jury convicts Malvo in sniper shootings

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Rejecting the defense claim that Lee Boyd Malvo was insane after a former Army soldier transformed him into a dispassionate killer, a jury convicted the teen-ager of capital murder yesterday in connection with last fall's sniper assaults that left 10 dead in the Washington area and millions living in fear.

Insanity defense was risky strategy

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Lee Boyd Malvo's lawyers waged an elaborate insanity defense. They called four mental health experts who said their client didn't know right from wrong. They brought forth witnesses to talk about Malvo's abusive childhood. They showed drawings Malvo made that exalted Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Deep feelings grip families after verdict

Marion Lewis, whose daughter Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera was shot and killed at a Kensington gas station more than a year ago, said yesterday that he stayed away from the Lee Boyd Malvo trial for his own good.

Malvo jury continues deliberating into 2nd day

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Jurors weighing the fate of Lee Boyd Malvo - the teen-ager accused in a shooting rampage that left 10 dead and sent waves of terror around the nation's capital last fall - did not reach a verdict yesterday after deliberating seven hours on the intricacies of a complex insanity defense.

Nastiness, greed said to inspire Malvo

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Nastiness and a desire for money -- not insanity -- drove Lee Boyd Malvo to kill person after person in a bloody sniper rampage in the Washington, D.C., area, one of Virginia's top prosecutors told jurors in a closing argument yesterday.

Testimony completed in trial of Malvo

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Testimony ended yesterday in the capital murder trial of Lee Boyd Malvo after two psychologists for the prosecution told jurors that the teen-ager was not mentally ill when he took part in the sniper attacks that gripped the Washington area in fear last year.

Defending sniper suspects costs Md.

The cost of defending John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo has soared past $1 million -- a sum that has been partially borne by Maryland taxpayers even though the sniper case defendants faced trial in Virginia courtrooms on Virginia murder charges.

Doctor testifies on sites scouted

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Preparing for a keep-them-guessing strategy in their Washington-area sniper plot, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo scouted more than 100 potential shooting sites in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, a psychiatrist for the teen-age sniper suspect testified yesterday.

Malvo was legally insane, expert says

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Unable to distinguish between right and wrong, Lee Boyd Malvo met the standard for being legally insane when he participated in last year's deadly sniper rampage, a Maryland psychiatrist for his defense testified yesterday.

2 stories by Malvo the focus of trial

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - In many ways, the trial of sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo comes down to his word against his word.

Psycholog