Muhammad in federal court on death counts

By MARK WILKINSON

John Allen Muhammad, one of two suspects in a sniper spree that left 10 people dead in the Washington area, yesterday faced federal charges, including six counts that carry the death penalty.

At a hearing in suburban Greenbelt, Maryland, the 41-year-old Gulf War veteran was charged with using a weapon to commit murder, affecting interstate commerce by extortion and other charges.

Six of the federal charges provide for the death penalty. Officials initially said there were seven death penalty charges but later amended this without explanation.

Attorney-General John Ashcroft said this was appropriate, as the complaint "alleges the most severe and atrocious of crimes ... I believe the ultimate sanction ought to be available here".

The criminal complaint named seven of the 10 people killed during the sniper spree that terrified the Washington area for three weeks, with people cut down by a single bullet.

Muhammad and his 17-year-old travelling companion, John Lee Malvo, already face six murder charges apiece in Maryland, where six of the killings occurred, and Muhammad faces an additional murder charge in Virginia. Both face attempted murder and terrorism charges in Virginia.

Malvo was not named in the federal complaint, and an affidavit accompanying the charges referred to him as "John Doe, Juvenile."

The affidavit cited evidence linking all 13 shootings that took place since October 2. It also said law enforcement received a handwritten note demanding US$10 million ($20.6 million) be paid into a Visa account. The note contained threats to kill more people, if the demands were not met.

It also cited evidence found in the car when Muhammad and Malvo were arrested. That included a Bushmaster .223 calibre rifle; a glove - similar to a single glove found at the scene of an October 22 shooting; and two boxes of .338 ammunition.

Furious legal jockeying over which jurisdiction would try the case began soon after the two were caught last Friday.

Both Maryland and Virginia have vowed to push for the death penalty, even though Maryland has a moratorium on executions.

The two suspects are also charged with murder in a separate case in Alabama, where officials have said they would seek the death penalty.

Maryland officials argue that because most of the deaths occurred in their territory, the case should go forward there.

However, Virginia authorities maintain that their record on enacting the death penalty, 86 times since 1976, compared with Maryland's three, means the first trials should occur there.

- REUTERS

Further reading:
The Washington sniper

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