Witness: (Sniper) Muhammad Suspected of Lobbing Grenade Into Fellow Soldiers' Tent

TBO.com ^ | 12/04/03 | Sonja Barisic

[kattracks]

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) - A former platoon sergeant was so unnerved by John Allen Muhammad, who was suspected of tossing a grenade into an Army tent in 1991, that he scribbled the soldier's name and dog-tag number on a piece of paper he still keeps in his wallet. "I considered him a threat," Kip Berentson, 48, said Wednesday of the sniper mastermind at the trial of Muhammad's alleged accomplice. No one was wounded in the 1991 grenade attack and no charges were brought.

Lawyers for 18-year-old sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo are pursuing an insanity defense, contending Muhammad brainwashed the boy and turned him into a killer.

Berentson read a portion of Muhammad's military record in which a supervisor wrote that he counseled Muhammad for poor performance and Muhammad answered with a threat: "Brother to brother, back off or you'll be the first who will be slaughtered."

Earlier Wednesday, Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush barred Malvo's lawyers from introducing a letter in which the teenager supposedly pleads for help and warns he is a "ticking time bomb." Roush ruled the letter was hearsay.

Defense attorney Michael Arif argued that Malvo's letter should be allowed because it showed his gloomy state of mind just months before the rampage last year that left 10 people dead in and around the nation's capital.

Prosecutor Robert F. Horan Jr. successfully argued the letter was inadmissible.

The letter was written by Malvo to Muhammad's niece LaToria Williams during a visit to Muhammad's family in Baton Rouge, La., in the summer of 2002. Relatives read the letter and believed Malvo was in dire straits.

Carol Williams, Muhammad's first wife, testified on Tuesday that she believed after reading the letter that Malvo was "asking for help to get out of the situation he was in."

"He said that he was a ticking time bomb," LaToria Williams testified without the jury present.

Malvo and Muhammad are charged in or linked to the killing of 10 people and the wounding of six in the D.C. area, plus shootings in Washington state, Arizona, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.

Also on Wednesday, a friend of Muhammad's, Earl Dancy, testified on cross-examination that Malvo "didn't like white people" and debated race relations with him, sometimes belligerently.

Dancy also said that on trips to the shooting range, Malvo showed himself to be a good shooter, but Muhammad, a former soldier, was a poor shot.

Muhammad's military records showed that in the early 1980s, Muhammad received top marksman ratings while with the National Guard, but by the time he was discharged from the Army in 1995, he received the lowest rating, Berentson said. He also said Muhammad frequently complained of racial discrimination while in the Army.

Muhammad, 42, was convicted last month of murder, and a jury recommended the death sentence. Malvo could also face the death penalty.

[LS]

Speaking of which: Whatever happened to the Muslim convert who really DID throw a grenade under the tent in Kuwait during the Iraq invastion? Haven't heard a word about him.

[sean327]

What the hell is a dog tag number? In my 19 years as a Marine, the only number I've ever seen on a dog tag is the individuals social security number. Something stinks in this story. I'm not taking up for mohammed but this guys story is a little fishy.

[OldSmaj]

...he scribbled the soldier's name and dog-tag number on a piece of paper...

Bullshit.

This ain't Army-speak. There is no such thing as a "dog-tag number".

Now if he had said SSN or social or something to that effect, maybe, but nobody, now or then calls it a "dog-tag number".

Stupid, damn idiotic liberal press, making crap up, for the sake of the "journalistic impact".

Don't let the story stand on it's own two feet, which it would do, lets embellish and "paint" some drama into it.

"dog-tag number"...idiots.

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

Muhammad, 42, was convicted last month of murder, and a jury recommended the death sentence.

If the sentence stands, we will of course be treated, on the eve of execution, to the usual pathetic spectacle of the ACLU/Islamicist crowd, chanting inane slogans and calling our President a murderer. I hope this occurs sometime in late October '04.

[steplock]

"John Allen Muhammad, who was suspected of tossing a grenade"

let us try ....

"John Allen Muhammad, who was SEEN tossing a grenade..."

COWARDS ALL with no honor decency nor integrity -- speaking of lawyers, judges, politicians AND reporters!



.

[vetvetdoug]

Unless Mohammer had been in the military for about forty years, his dog tag would have had his SS#. About 1964 the military began to use the SS# instead of a serial number with the prefix of the branch of service and then the number. SS#_ _ _-_ _ -_ _ _ _ versus AF _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. I had to memorize my father's serial number as a AF brat in the 1950's.

[Ben Hecks]

Counting my SSN, I had four serial numbers - National Guard, USAR, Regular Army and SSN. Funny thing is I can remember them all : ) The first Regular Army serial number was Gen. Pershing......he was 01.

[William Tell]

vetvetdoug said: "About 1964 the military began to use the SS# instead of a serial number with the prefix of the branch of service and then the number."

My brother and I both enlisted in 1968. We were assigned unique eight-digit Army serial numbers. I was on a delayed enlistment program, so mine was prefixed with "ER" for "Enlisted Reserve" until I reported for duty, at which time the prefix changed to "RA" for "Regular Army". Draftees, I believe, had a prefix of "US".

[SBprone]

"Berentson read a portion of Muhammad's military record in which a supervisor wrote that he counseled Muhammad for poor performance and Muhammad answered with a threat: "Brother to brother, back off or you'll be the first who will be slaughtered."

So it's not a crime for a soldier to make a threat like this? I didn't know that military justice was all bark and no bite.

Too bad for those folks he shot.

[vetvetdoug]

I thought the serial number was switched somewhere in the middle 60's but didn't realize it was as late as 1968. When I went in early 70's I used the SS#. Thanks.