Posted on 11/06/2003 1:48:20 AM PST by sarcasm
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Maps of six shooting scenes marked with skull-and-crossbones icons were in a laptop computer found in the car when the two sniper shooting suspects were arrested, an FBI computer expert said.
A caption next to the site of the slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin -- who was shot in the head outside a Home Depot -- read "Good one," expert John Hair testified Wednesday.
Franklin's daughter, Katrina Hannum, was in court and listened to the testimony with her head down and her hand to her forehead.
Prosecutors began presenting forensic evidence to connect John Allen Muhammad to the Washington, D.C.-area shootings through DNA, a voice recording and the computer maps.
Muhammad's DNA was found on a sight detached from the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle found in his car, and his DNA likely was on the rifle itself, testified Brendan Shea, a DNA expert with the FBI.
Shea said there was a 1-in-210 chance a randomly selected African-American would have the same DNA as that found on the rifle stock, and a 1-in-21 chance for DNA on another spot on the weapon.
The DNA of fellow sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo also was found on the rifle in several places, Shea said.
Fingerprint expert Charles Colman of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said he found prints from Malvo's left ring finger and palm on the rifle, but no prints from Muhammad.
The position of the prints suggested Malvo held the weapon upside down at the time. "It wasn't any type of firing position," Colman said.
Malvo has said he fired the shots in several of the shootings that left 10 people dead, but his lawyers say he made a false confession to protect Muhammad.
Prosecutors have argued that who fired the weapon is irrelevant, saying Muhammad instigated the sniper shootings. Defense lawyers have argued that identifying the triggerman is crucial in determining whether Muhammad is eligible for the death penalty.
Muhammad is on trial for the Oct. 9, 2002 shooting of Dean Harold Meyers at a gasoline station near Manassas. However, prosecutors want to show that Muhammad had a role in multiple slayings and engaged in a form of terrorism -- necessary conditions for the two death penalty charges against him in Virginia.
A forensic chemist testified that explosive residues were found in the trunk of Muhammad's car, suggesting the trunk served as the firing area during the sniper shootings.
Jurors also heard about the contents of the laptop computer found in the car when Muhammad and Malvo were arrested Oct. 24, 2002. Malvo is scheduled to go on trial next week in Franklin's death.
Another file on the computer contained text apparently designed to be telephone dialogue with the sniper code words "Call me God" and instructions to place $5 million in an account. The text file was created on Oct. 11, 2002, eight days before a note demanding $10 million to end the spree was left at the scene of a shooting.
An electronic organizer found in the car contained a list of "People to die later," including two people at radio stations in Frederick, Md., "George at the FBI Hotline," and others at CNN.
A digital voice recorder found in the car contained a brief recording, with one voice saying "You know our demands" and a second saying "Until then just follow the body bags." Detectives who interrogated Muhammad and Malvo identified the first voice as belonging to Muhammad and the second as that of Malvo.
Prosecutors have spent 2 1/2 weeks introducing evidence of 16 shootings in Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana and Washington D.C.
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