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Report: Evidence Points to Teen as Triggerman in Washington-Area Sniper Attacks
FOX ^ | 12/22/02 | AP

Posted on 12/22/2002 4:54:02 PM PST by hoosierskypilot

CENTREVILLE, Va. — Evidence in the Washington-area sniper shootings case points to teenager John Lee Malvo as the triggerman in most if not all of the shootings, according to a published report Sunday.

That could complicate prosecutors' efforts to get a death sentence for the older suspect, John Muhammad.

"There is not much pointing to Muhammad, and that is going to make it really hard to show that he was the triggerman," one senior law enforcement official involved in the case told The New York Times. "There are other ways to attempt to obtain a death sentence, but this lack of evidence has been one of the most perplexing things about the case."

Muhammad, 41, and Malvo, 17, are charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors say they are responsible for 13 shootings over a three-week period in October that left 10 dead and three wounded in Maryland, Virginia and Washington. They also are suspected in attacks in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Washington state.

Prosecutors, defense lawyers and police involved in the case in Virginia did not immediately return phone calls Sunday seeking comment.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: attacks; sniper; teen; triggerman; washington

1 posted on 12/22/2002 4:54:02 PM PST by hoosierskypilot
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To: hoosierskypilot
bttt
2 posted on 12/22/2002 4:59:31 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
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To: hoosierskypilot
This was, of course, suspected early on. That's the primary reason Malvo and Muhammad were sent over to Virginia for trial. There they don't have to prove that you were the triggerman - just that you were involved in the crime!
3 posted on 12/22/2002 5:11:34 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: hoosierskypilot
As I've always understood the law, if you are in the presence of someone in the course of committing a crime, and they commit murder, then you are equally guilty of murder. That was always the rule for bank robbers. It didn't matter who pulled the trigger.

It might not fly if someone unexpectedly let lose in your company and shot somebody and you weren't expecting it, but that excuse could only be used once.
4 posted on 12/22/2002 5:13:08 PM PST by Cicero
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To: Cicero
Here we go again -- another O.J. case.
5 posted on 12/22/2002 5:38:46 PM PST by TakeitBack
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To: TakeitBack
Wrong court!

Northern Virginia juries are known for finding bad guys guilty every single time.

6 posted on 12/22/2002 5:47:45 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: hoosierskypilot
Where did they hide and evade the manhunts? Where?
7 posted on 12/22/2002 5:58:35 PM PST by Diogenesis
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To: Diogenesis
They hid in plain sight.
8 posted on 12/22/2002 6:08:17 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: hoosierskypilot; Route66; Peach; Bella; Pete; areafiftyone; brigette; harpseal; Merovingian; ...
Thanks for the update hoosier..

Maryland: PING

If anyone wants on or off the maryland sniper ping list, please freepmail me..thanks!

9 posted on 12/22/2002 6:10:39 PM PST by Freedom2specul8
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To: muawiyah
"Northern Virginia juries are known for finding bad guys guilty every single time."

That's quite true but only because they pretty much find everyone guilty all the time.

10 posted on 12/22/2002 6:30:53 PM PST by PUGACHEV
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To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
Thanks for the update......IMHO they both committed the murders.....they planned them together; one drove while the other shot the innocent victims.....case closed!
11 posted on 12/22/2002 7:56:00 PM PST by JulieRNR21
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To: hoosierskypilot
So frigging what? Even if he didn't pull the trigger on any of the murders, he's every bit as guilty. He drove the car and parked it so that a kill shot could be made. He probably even ordered the boy to do the shootings in the first place. He's the adult and had all the power over the little scumbag. I don't want to hear any damned excuses by the prosecutors. Nothing less than the death penalty for the Islamic pond scum will do.
12 posted on 12/22/2002 8:04:45 PM PST by demkicker
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To: muawiyah
I agree in Virginia they hang em. And I am not worried about the end result with these two...they will fry.
13 posted on 12/22/2002 8:11:26 PM PST by Mfkmmof4
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To: Diogenesis
Where did they hide and evade the manhunts? Where?

They didn't have to! The feds profilers had them looking for young WHITE males, as the perps were waved on through.

Even now it is of little note that they were black, ex-military and an immigrant.

14 posted on 12/22/2002 8:22:09 PM PST by Gore_ War_ Vet
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To: hoosierskypilot
There is not much pointing to Muhammad, and that is going to make it really hard to show that he was the triggerman," one senior law enforcement official involved in the case told The New York Times. "There are other ways to attempt to obtain a death sentence, but this lack of evidence has been one of the most perplexing things about the case."

If this kind of logic had been used when dealing with Al Qaeda, then Osama bin Laden would be running a 7-11 somewhere in Washington D.C. right now. As far as I know, there is absolutely no evidence that he ever flew a passenger jet into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon.

15 posted on 12/22/2002 8:23:15 PM PST by Alberta's Child
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To: hoosierskypilot
I'm sure Lieberman will try to connect this to video games and take the blame away from the adult (they can call him a "teen" all they want, but he's still old enough to know and be responsible for what he did) and his older "friend"/step-dad/whatever. They have and will also continue to spout the old "people having access to firearms" routine.

The liberals will spin this, and cast blame everywhere else but on the person(s) who did it.

16 posted on 12/22/2002 8:55:45 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: JulieRNR21
Hi Julie, you're welcome...I agree, they are at fault equally...
17 posted on 12/22/2002 9:16:48 PM PST by Freedom2specul8
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To: ~Kim4VRWC's~
Saw the interview with Holmes last night. He was Muhammed's old buddy and the person who called the FBI, a week before the snipers were captured. They put his call in the pile until after they had gotten the written message from the kidnappers and then they talked to him.

Here's a guy who had a NAME, a FACE and some good facts about two guys with a Bushmaster, and they ignored him.

The lesson learned: Go to your local police and keep going until someone listens to you. Most enforcement people put their own idea of a scenario to your story and blow you off. We see it over and over in this case...from Holmes...to the keeper of the shelter...to the priest who called in about the Alabama shooting. Of course, connecting dots is always a lot easier after the fact. In this case, however, there were simply too many stones unturned by enforcement officials.

In the end, I think we're going to find that Muhammed made all the head shots and the kid made the others. Not having ANY prints of Muhammed on the Bushmaster doesn't mean a thing. We know it would have been wiped down many times because that is what good soldier's do. When they are sure they can get a murder conviction on the kid, they will have a plea deal for the kid for life in prison without possibility of parole contingent on his testimony against Muhammed. They want Muhammed FIRST.

The motive is yet to be concluded and I really don't think it was Mildred. He left an extensive trail which would have been picked up if she was a victim.

No, here is an ex-american soldier, who joined the religion of Islam, who changed his name on the exact day the hijackers began entering the country in teams of two, who registered the hit car on 9-11 at almost the exact time of the first tower hit and a man who was sympathtic to the hijackers.

Blow away the smoke...the victims were anonymous and a dupe, the ex-wife is a dupe, Malvo is a dupe, the ransom was a dupe.

The big picture..The hits surrounded our Nation's Capital and the clock began running on the day he registered the car, 9-11. This was a "sacrifice" scenario from the beginning and is similar to McVeigh who went silently.

Motive??? I think he never got paid for some work he had already done for a group associated with radical Islam and told to go on his way. I suppose he thought he and Malvo would die in a shootout and it would be blamed on Islamic extremists, the group he wanted to get back at.

We're missing something and someone in this case.

Still wondering who it will be!!

18 posted on 12/23/2002 7:54:05 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: muawiyah
That's the primary reason Malvo and Muhammad were sent over to Virginia for trial.

It so pathetic that Maryland couldn't be trusted to prosecute these guys.

Thank you Paris Spendenning and all you gutless Maryland socialist wonders.

19 posted on 12/23/2002 1:23:12 PM PST by evad
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To: PUGACHEV
"Northern Virginia juries are known for finding bad guys guilty every single time."

That's quite true but only because they pretty much find everyone guilty all the time.

Also quite true because pretty much everyone that gets to that level in the justice process IS guilty.

20 posted on 12/23/2002 1:27:52 PM PST by evad
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