Teen sniper Malvo sentenced to life in prison

News and Observer ^ | March 10, 2004 11:57AM | MATTHEW BARAKAT/AP

[mykdsmom]

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) - Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday for an October 2002 killing spree in the Washington, D.C., area that left 10 people dead.

Malvo, 19, was sentenced a day after sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad was given the death penalty. Malvo did not speak at the brief hearing.

Malvo was convicted in December of the slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Falls Church, Va., Home Depot store. His defense team had argued that Malvo had been molded into a killer by the charismatic Muhammad.

Muhammad used his sentencing hearing on Tuesday to again deny any role in the killings, echoing a claim of innocence he made at the start of his trial when he briefly served as his own attorney.

"Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I'll say again, I had nothing to do with this," Muhammad said.

But Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. said the evidence of Muhammad's guilt was "overwhelming" and sentenced him to death.

"These offenses are so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension," Millette said.

Millette had the option of reducing the jury's recommendation of death to life in prison without parole. Virginia law allows a judge to reduce a jury's recommended sentence but not increase it.

Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush had no leeway to change the jury's recommendation of life in prison for Malvo because that is the minimum punishment allowed for a capital murder conviction.

Doug Keefer, a juror who plans to write a book about the Malvo trial, said the jury made the right choice.

"For me the important part was he was convicted of the capital murder charges. It's my opinion there was some influence from John Muhammad."

Defense lawyer Craig Cooley also said Muhammad was an influence. "We do not believe anyone could have observed the evidence ... and believed Lee Malvo would be here except for the influence of John Muhammad," Cooley said.

It's unclear what will happen next with Malvo. Prosecutors in other states, including Alabama and Louisiana, are seeking his extradition to face potential death-penalty charges there for killings that occurred in the weeks before the D.C. sniper spree.

Prosecutors in Prince William County, who obtained the death penalty against Muhammad, initially said they wanted to seek the death penalty against Malvo as well. But they have recently said they may want to wait and see the outcome of a pending U.S. Supreme Court case on the execution of juveniles. Malvo was 17 at the time of the sniper spree.

Muhammad appeared in court Tuesday with a slightly graying, unkempt beard, in sharp contrast to his clean-shaven, well-dressed appearance at trial.

About 50 family members of sniper victims were in the courtroom. One silently shook his fist as Millette announced the sentence.

"Justice has been served today," said Sonia Wills, mother of sniper victim Conrad Johnson, who would have been 37 this Sunday. "I can go to my son's grave and wish him a happy birthday."

The sister of Hong Im Ballenger, allegedly killed by Muhammad and Malvo in Baton Rouge, La., in the weeks before the D.C. attacks, said Muhammad deserved to die.

"He killed so many innocent people," said a tearful Kwang Im Szuszka. "My nephew is 12 years old and he needs his mommy. ... It breaks my heart."

Muhammad, 43, was convicted of capital murder on Nov. 17 for the Oct. 9, 2002, murder of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station near Manassas.

The capital-area killings began on Oct. 2, 2002, when the pair shot a 55-year-old man to death outside a Wheaton, Md., supermarket. The following day, five people were killed in the Washington area - four within a span of about two hours.

Muhammad and Malvo were captured Oct. 24 at a highway rest stop near Myersville, Md., in a car that had been altered to allow someone to fire a high-powered rifle from inside the trunk.

[martin_fierro]

That little pr*ck got off light.

[chachacha]

What a Shame. A firing squad was appropriate, Even better, a hanging! Another reason why the justice system needsd revamping.

[CindyDawg]

They all need to try him in case one state decides to change the life without parole option.

[sr4402]

What was Malvo's age when caught?

[Jeff Head]

It's not over for him yet. Let's see what Alabama and Louisiana do. Perhpas they will put him down...that's what he deserves.

Billy the kid started his killing a lot earlier than Malvo...and it was a shoot on site order forn him.

[mykdsmom]

He was 17 then.

[martin_fierro]

True dat.

[Sacajaweau]

Frankly, I think once they execute the big boy, the little boy will sing like a canary. We might just find out that there's a Terrorist connection yet. His drawings were of such excellence and of such intensity, he must have spent a lot of time consumming info on Usama to produce them.

[rickmichaels]

"Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I'll say again, I had nothing to do with this."

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss...."

[SengirV]

Maybe I'm turning soft in my old age. But I think that life in prison without a chance of parole is fitting. This guy(won't call him a kid) has been brainwashed by his "dad" since he was a kid. This whole thing was not his idea, he was told a million times it was us against them and his "dad" gave him a gun.

I have no problem giving his "dad" the death penalty, but something seems a little wrong about giving him the death penalty. Call me a Pinko Commie all you want, but being brainwashed takes the death penalty off the table for me.

[OXENinFLA]

This was just one court, he can still be tried and sentanced to DEATH in other cases in other states.

[Rocky Mountain High]

You're not a pinko, but do think you'd feel different if it was your wife who took a 5.56 in the head as you were walking out of Home Depot?

[Senormechanico]

Riiight! And I suppose he was a "victim" being black, a homo, and muslim.
I would pay a buck to be the one to flip on the juice on the electric chair for that piece of garbage.

SM

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Frankly, I agree. Actually, in spite of what he did, I feel sorry for the kid. Which is not to say I think he should ever walk the streets again.

Kids are pliable. If an adult, especially a charismatic one, wants to turn a kid into a murderer, he can do it.

As for Muhammad, I think HE was the one who got off light. Like someone else suggested (except more so), I think he should have to pump gas for a few weeks, never knowing when the bullet would come, and then be shot and taken to the hospital a couple of times before the final blow, which would be a gut wound with him left to slowly bleed to death on the pavement.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Kids are pliable. If an adult, especially a charismatic one, wants to turn a kid into a murderer, he can do it.

By all accounts I ever heard, Malvo was described as a polite, well-mannered boy who didn't get into trouble before his association with Muhammad. Except for Muhammad's influence, it sounds like he could've turned out to be a law-abiding citizen.

Under my care, Malvo would've ended up an honest businessman and a freeper...

[hattend]

Did anyone else hear the ABC radio news report (Top of Rush's 3rd hour) where Malvo's attorney has told him to be polite, stay out of trouble in prison and imagine his incarceration to be similar to that suffered by Mandela?

Holy crap. Are we going to see him on the street again?

[SengirV]

Never said he was a victim. If I believe he was a victim, I'd be calling for him to go to a mental institution instead. I am not. Life with no hope of parole is not a vacation.

[SengirV]

You're not a pinko, but do think you'd feel different if it was your wife who took a 5.56 in the head as you were walking out of Home Depot?

You are correct, I just might. But the brainwashing mastermind is going to be put to death and the brainwashed "son" is going to jail for the rest of his life(it better be). I believe that justice is served by this.

[tob2]

I think he should have gotten the death penalty also. He's the trigger man.

[Monty22]

Both need to fry, badly.. This year.

[Charles Martel]

Send him to Louisiana - we'll be happy to arrange a cell in Angola until he gets strapped to a gurney.

[cyborg]

I think this is a just verdict. Mohammad got what he deserved for what he did and for leading a boy down the path of life ruination.

[cyborg]

Mandela's time in prison was hardly a vacation. His attorney can say that but that doesn't necessarily make it true, and he's an idiot for making that comparison anyway.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

I still think he got off light, both for what he did and for leading Malvo down the path, as you said, of ruination.

[Selene]

I am sure the little monster will continue his Jihad from his jail cell.

The enlarged picture says ICAF " Islamic Counter Attack Force" http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/cases/jpg/120303df65_133.jpg