CLINTON -- Ballistic tests have tied a revolver authorities say John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo left behind at the scene of an Alabama killing in September to two Prince George's County shootings earlier that month.
Law enforcement officials told the Washington Post the link closes a gap in their investigation.
Law enforcement agencies, including Prince Georges County Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would not comment on the report to The Associated Press today.
Police in Montgomery, Ala., found the .22-caliber revolver along a path Malvo used to escape the Sept. 21 fatal shooting of a liquor store clerk, authorities said.
Although the revolver was left behind in the Alabama killing, ballistic tests have shown the clerk was killed with the same Bushmaster rifle used in the Washington-area sniper attacks and found with Malvo and Muhammad when they were arrested in October.
Muhammad had told investigators he found the sniper rifle in the days immediately before he and Malvo were arrested in October, law enforcement sources said.
Authorities said Thursday the new evidence linking Muhammad and Malvo to the Alabama and Prince George's shootings allows investigators to place the sniper rifle in the suspects' hands as early as September.
Prince George's police sources confirmed Thursday that the department recently informed authorities in Alabama that the handgun found there was used to wound Paul LaRuffa outside his Clinton pizzeria Sept. 5, a month before the spate of sniper shootings began.
The same gun was used in a Brandywine liquor store attack on Sept. 15 and a fatal shooting in Atlanta on Sept. 21. The nickel-plated revolver was stolen July 20 at a gun show in El Paso.
Sources said initial tests of the firearm were inconclusive, but a match was made after further ballistics testing.
The men who robbed and wounded LaRuffa stole a laptop computer that was later found with Muhammad and Malvo in the Chevrolet Caprice in which they were arrested at a Maryland rest stop Oct. 24. Sources have said the computer had files with cryptic references to several of the Washington-area sniper shootings and maps that appear to relate to some of the shooting sites.
Muhammad's attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, said he continues to be upset that information about his client has been disclosed outside the courtroom.
"Why won't the authorities investigate and stop these unethical and illegal leaks?" Greenspun said. "It is because they are insecure about the quality of the evidence and feel the need to taint the process by leaking inaccurate, incomplete and out-of-context information, which shows their basic lack of confidence about their ability to prove what they allege."
Malvo, 17, was indicted this week in Fairfax County on capital murder charges related to the Oct. 14 slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Seven Corners Home Depot.
Muhammad, 42, is awaiting trial in Prince William County on capital murder charges stemming from the Oct. 9 shooting of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, at a gas station north of Manassas. The pair have been charged in each of the 13 sniper shootings in the Washington area and are also charged with capital murder in Alabama.
Law enforcement officials told the Washington Post the link closes a gap in their investigation.
Law enforcement agencies, including Prince Georges County Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would not comment on the report to The Associated Press today.
Police in Montgomery, Ala., found the .22-caliber revolver along a path Malvo used to escape the Sept. 21 fatal shooting of a liquor store clerk, authorities said.
Although the revolver was left behind in the Alabama killing, ballistic tests have shown the clerk was killed with the same Bushmaster rifle used in the Washington-area sniper attacks and found with Malvo and Muhammad when they were arrested in October.
Muhammad had told investigators he found the sniper rifle in the days immediately before he and Malvo were arrested in October, law enforcement sources said.
Authorities said Thursday the new evidence linking Muhammad and Malvo to the Alabama and Prince George's shootings allows investigators to place the sniper rifle in the suspects' hands as early as September.
Prince George's police sources confirmed Thursday that the department recently informed authorities in Alabama that the handgun found there was used to wound Paul LaRuffa outside his Clinton pizzeria Sept. 5, a month before the spate of sniper shootings began.
The same gun was used in a Brandywine liquor store attack on Sept. 15 and a fatal shooting in Atlanta on Sept. 21. The nickel-plated revolver was stolen July 20 at a gun show in El Paso.
Sources said initial tests of the firearm were inconclusive, but a match was made after further ballistics testing.
The men who robbed and wounded LaRuffa stole a laptop computer that was later found with Muhammad and Malvo in the Chevrolet Caprice in which they were arrested at a Maryland rest stop Oct. 24. Sources have said the computer had files with cryptic references to several of the Washington-area sniper shootings and maps that appear to relate to some of the shooting sites.
Muhammad's attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, said he continues to be upset that information about his client has been disclosed outside the courtroom.
"Why won't the authorities investigate and stop these unethical and illegal leaks?" Greenspun said. "It is because they are insecure about the quality of the evidence and feel the need to taint the process by leaking inaccurate, incomplete and out-of-context information, which shows their basic lack of confidence about their ability to prove what they allege."
Malvo, 17, was indicted this week in Fairfax County on capital murder charges related to the Oct. 14 slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Seven Corners Home Depot.
Muhammad, 42, is awaiting trial in Prince William County on capital murder charges stemming from the Oct. 9 shooting of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, at a gas station north of Manassas. The pair have been charged in each of the 13 sniper shootings in the Washington area and are also charged with capital murder in Alabama.