DC sniper mastermind's execution set for November

[samanthajane13]

By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 16, 5:57 pm ET

RICHMOND, Va. – A Virginia judge on Wednesday set a Nov. 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area that left 10 dead.

Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O'Brien picked a Tuesday for the execution so that courts would be open the day before in case of any last-minute legal appeals.

Jonathan Sheldon, Muhammad's attorney, said Muhammad would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for clemency.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, who was shot at a Manassas gas station during a three-week killing spree in October 2002 that left 10 dead in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

He and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were also suspected of shootings in several other states, including a killing in Louisiana and another in Alabama. Malvo is serving life in prison.

Meyers' brother, Robert Meyers of Perkiomenville, Pa., said the setting of an execution date has served as something of a "reality check" for a death sentence that was imposed more than five years ago.

"We're not bloodthirsty people. It's not like we can't wait for this to happen," he said in a phone interview. "But there's a debt to society. And it's been determined in the right way — not by vigilantism — that this is the action to be taken."

A federal appeals court last month rejected Muhammad's argument that prosecutors withheld critical evidence and that he never should have been allowed to act as his own attorney for a portion of his trial because he was too mentally impaired.

The attorney general's office declined to comment Wednesday.

Cheryll Witz said she wants to witness the execution personally. Her father, Jerry Taylor, was shot and killed by Malvo on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002 at Muhammad's direction.

"It's definitely about justice," she said. "The death penalty is the only justice for him."

___

Associated Press Writer Matthew Barakat contributed to this report from McLean, Va.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090916/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[samanthajane13]

Va. gov: No reason to stop sniper execution

By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 48 mins ago

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Monday he can't think of any reason he would stop the execution of Washington, D.C.-area sniper John Allen Muhammad.

Muhammad is scheduled to be executed Nov. 10 for the October 2002 killing spree that left 10 dead in the nation's capital, Virginia and Maryland.

"I know of nothing in this case now that would suggest that there is any credible claim of innocence or that there was anything procedurally wrong with the prosecution," Kaine said on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP.

Kaine said he would review Muhammad's petition for clemency when he gets it.

Muhammad attorney Jon Sheldon said there were "huge procedural errors in the case" that he plans to raise in the clemency petition he expects to file in mid-October, and other issues he'll raise in a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court in early November.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, who was shot at a Manassas gas station. Myers was one of 10 people killed over a three-week period in 2002 by Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo. Malvo is serving a life sentence.

In August, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Muhammad's claims that prosecutors withheld critical evidence and that Muhammad should not have been allowed to act as his own attorney for part of his trial.

Muhammad made his own opening statement and questioned 18 witnesses before turning his defense over to court-appointed attorneys. During oral arguments in May, Sheldon argued that Muhammad's trial lawyers failed to tell the judge that he was too mentally impaired to represent himself.

Muhammad also claimed prosecutors withheld thousands of pages of documents that could have helped him, including ballistics reports, witness interviews and an FBI profiler's report that the shootings probably were the work of a lone gunman.

Judge Roger Gregory wrote in the opinion that the court did not condone the state's actions, adding that the prosecution should err on the side of disclosure — especially when the defendant is facing a possible death sentence.

"Yet, at this stage of the criminal process, we deal only with actions that were clear violations of the Constitution. While not admirable, the Commonwealth's actions did not violate the Constitution," Gregory wrote.

Sheldon said death shouldn't be allowed because of fuzziness between the degrees of constitutional violation.

"So not only was it improper, but it apparently was likely a violation of the constitution, just not a 'clear violation,'" he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I'd call that affirming a death sentence on a technicality."

Kaine usually does not act on clemency petitions until after the courts have denied a condemned inmate's request.

Kaine, a Roman Catholic, is opposed to the death penalty, but has allowed nine executions and commuted one sentence since he took office in 2006. Virginia has the nation's second busiest death chamber behind Texas.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[samanthajane13]

Victims, relatives to witness sniper execution
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 36 mins ago

RICHMOND, Va. – Some ache for revenge, others simply for justice. There is frustration, too, and defiance.

For those wounded by the D.C. snipers and for the relatives of those killed, the emotions leading up to the execution of the mastermind behind the 2002 attacks vary as widely as those who found themselves in the cross hairs.

John Allen Muhammad, 48, is set to die by injection in a Virginia prison Nov. 10, seven years after he and his teenage accomplice terrorized the area in and around the nation's capital for three weeks.

Some family members can't wait to see Muhammad take his final breath. Others plan to make the trip to Virginia but never step foot on prison grounds.

And there are those who plan to spend the night at home with their families, satisfied that Muhammad is paying for what he's done but indifferent as to how it will happen.

___

For Nelson M. Rivera and Marion Lewis, watching Muhammad's execution will be the closest they will ever come to revenge.

"I feel like it's going to be the last chapter of this book and I want to see what his expression on his face is. And I want to see if he says anything," the 38-year-old Rivera said. "I want to see his face and see how he likes that — confronting his death."

Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, who was Rivera's wife and Lewis' daughter, was killed as she vacuumed her van at a Kensington, Md., gas station.

Rivera, a Honduran immigrant who recently became a U.S. citizen, has remarried and had two more children since Lori was killed, leaving behind a 2-year-old daughter, Jocelin. He now works as a public-schools groundskeeper in the suburbs of Sacramento, Calif.

Still, "there is not one day I don't remember what happened and I don't remember my wife. This is going to be with me the rest of my life," Rivera said.

Lewis, 57, a laid-off construction worker, said he would like to tell Muhammad how losing his 25-year-old daughter devastated their family.

"For the hurt, the pain that he's caused my family, I'd like to be his executioner, period," Lewis said.

___

Robert Meyers takes some solace in knowing that Muhammad's execution is out of his hands.

He and his wife, Lori, plan to be in the witness booth, but not out of any bloodthirsty lust to watch his brother's killer meet his maker. Rather, he considers it justice being served, a sentence being carried out.

"The reason why this life is going to be taken has everything to do with choices that he made and the process that those choices took him through," said Meyers, 56, of Perkiomenville, Pa.

Executions in Virginia, home of the nation's second-busiest death chamber, usually are intimate affairs observed by a handful of lawyers, prison officials, the mandated six citizen witnesses, a few reporters and family members.

But the sheer number of victims — 10 killed and three injured in and around the nation's capital alone — has the state scrambling to accommodate all the people entitled to watch. Corrections officials are tightlipped about the arrangements, though relatives say each victim's family was offered two spots in the roughly 10-by-10 witness booth.

Meyers said he owed it to his brother, Dean Harold Meyers, to be there and that he also wanted to be there for other victims' families.

Dean Meyers, 53, a Vietnam vet and civil engineer, was the youngest of four brothers. He was shot in the head while filling up at a Manassas, Va., gas station. Muhammad's teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, later bragged to police, laughing that Dean Meyers "was hit good. Dead immediately."

It was Meyers' murder that sent Muhammad to death row.

"We're expecting justice being done, but not from a vengeful standpoint," Robert Meyers said. "It is more about the payment of his debt to society, because that was decided by others."

___

Charles Moore believes Muhammad deserves to die, and he's frustrated that Malvo will not be on a gurney beside him.

"The only thing that would give me closure would be if I knew that Lee Boyd Malvo was being punished properly," said Moore, 80, of Gainesville, Fla.

Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing Linda Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shot as she and her husband loaded supplies at a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va.

"I don't see how someone can plan and plot and commit murder, one right after the other, and get off with just life in prison, I don't care what their age is," Moore said.

Moore, a retired bioengineer at the University of Florida, said his daughter used to call him every morning "to tell me to get out of bed and start chasing my wife around the house or something."

He struggles with Parkinson's disease now, and says he can't afford the trip to Virginia to watch the execution. He's not really sure he would make the trip if he could, though.

"When my daughter was first killed, if I would have had a gun I would have been willing to kill him but right now I don't know how I feel," Moore said. "I don't want him turned loose on society, that's for sure."

___

Caroline Seawell has refused to live the last seven years as a victim.

Sure, her ribs are deformed and there's a piece of mesh covering a hole in her diaphragm. But Seawell has been blessed with no major medical problems since a sniper's bullet raced into her back and through a handful of organs as she loaded a scarecrow and other Halloween decorations into her minivan.

She and her family moved to South Carolina not long after the shooting outside a Fredericksburg, Va., Michael's craft store. Her youngest son, now 11, doesn't even know about the shooting.

"I've been really good about being able to kind of just put it behind me," Seawell said. "I've been able to just continue on with my life."

In that defiant spirit, Seawell said she will not travel to Virginia to watch Muhammad take his last breath. He deserves to die for what he's done, she said, but after watching both parents die from cancer, she has no desire to witness another death.

"There was enough killing already with all of us," she said.

If anything, Seawell says the shooting has made her a much stronger person. If given the chance, she'd like to tell Muhammad and Malvo just that.

"They didn't do what they set out to do because they haven't devastated my life," she said. "I've been able to move on and continue and raise my children, which is exactly what I wanted to do.

"I don't want them to have any satisfaction out of the fact that they shot me."

___

Associated Press Writer David Dishneau contributed to this report from Hagerstown, Md.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution_witnesses

[samanthajane13]

DC sniper calls himself 'this innocent black man'
By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press Writer Steve Szkotak, Associated Press Writer – Wed Nov 4, 7:59 pm ET

RICHMOND, Va. – Attorneys for John Allen Muhammad released a May 2008 letter on Wednesday in which the mastermind of the deadly 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area proclaims his innocence.

The rambling, handwritten letter was made available because of requests for a statement from Muhammad, his attorneys wrote on the Web page of their law firm. The letter was filed in federal court in connection with Muhammad's unsuccessful attempt to block his execution, the attorneys said.

Muhammad, 48, is scheduled to die by injection on Nov. 10 at a Virginia prison.

In the letter dated May 8, 2008, and rife with misspellings, Muhammad writes of discussions with a new team of attorneys and of assurances that "exculpatory evidence" that he claims was withheld from his trial "will prove my innocent and what really happen ...."

The letter adds: "So all you police and prosecutors can stand-down-'rushing' to murder this innocent black man for something he nor his son (Lee) had nothing to do with ...."

Lee Boyd Malvo was Muhammad's teenage accomplice, who is serving a life sentence. Muhammad fostered a father-son relationship with Malvo but the two were not related.

Jonathan Sheldon, one of Muhammad's attorneys, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the letter has been filed in U.S. District Court since May 2008. "It just had not come to public attention, like much of our filings," he wrote.

The letter, written under the heading "Attorney Client Privilege," was apparently filed during an attempt by lawyers to spare Muhammad from the death penalty.

In their filing, the lawyers said Muhammad was regularly whipped with hose pipes and electrical cords and beaten with hammers and sticks by family members during a brutal childhood.

Muhammad was convicted of killing Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas, Va., gas station during a three-week spree that killed 10 in October 2002. The killings happened in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Tuesday, Muhammad's attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution.

Muhammad's lawyers also have asked Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for clemency, saying Muhammad is mentally ill and should not be executed.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution_letter_3;_ylt=AhYueYQb2LAdvmj9 _sNP2pVH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2YnBoMDg5BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5 bi1yLWItbGVmdARzbGsDZXYtZGNzbmlwZXJj

[samanthajane13]

DC sniper asks Supreme Court to block execution
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer Mark Sherman, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 3, 7:16 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Attorneys for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area that left 10 dead, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to stop his execution.

The 48-year-old Muhammad is scheduled to die by injection on Nov. 10 at a Virginia prison. In court papers, his attorneys say the execution should be put off while the court considers whether his trial lawyer was ineffective.

Muhammad was convicted of killing Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas, Va., gas station during a three-week spree in October 2002 that spanned Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana and Alabama. Malvo is serving a life sentence.

Muhammad's lawyers also have asked Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for clemency, saying Muhammad is mentally ill and should not be executed.

In a 40-minute video to Kaine last month, attorneys, mental health experts and witnesses describe Muhammad's illness. Muhammad's attorneys claim he has brain damage, brain dysfunction and neurological deficits, as well as psychotic and delusional behavior, exacerbated by the Gulf War Syndrome he suffered as a sergeant in the first Iraq war.

They also submitted an interview with a juror who said that she would not have sentenced Muhammad to death if she had known of his severe mental illness.

The Supreme Court has banned executing the insane or the mentally disabled, measured by an IQ less than 70, established by the age of 18, and the lack of basic adaptive skills.

Kaine has said he knows of no reason he would commute Muhammad's sentence to life in prison, but that he would review the request. As a Roman Catholic he is opposed to the death penalty, but as governor he has allowed nine executions to take place and commuted one sentence — a man who he said was too mentally ill to be executed.

Kaine usually waits for a condemned inmate to exhaust all appeals before acting on a clemency request. The court could act anytime before the scheduled execution.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_go_su_co/us_sniper_execution_5;_ylt=AnI6n4ItTiZkDa9BDWXop7N H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2NXRtMjUyBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bi1yLWI tbGVmdARzbGsDZXYtZGNzbmlwZXJh

[samanthajane13]

Killings remain unsolved as sniper execution nears
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer Matthew Barakat, Associated Press Writer – 5 mins ago

McLEAN, Va. – It galled her to do it, but Sarah Dillon was desperate for answers, so she wrote letters to convicted snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo: If you murdered my son, please confess, she wrote.

She got no reply.

"I've been waiting for answers for seven years," said Dillon, who took to wearing a button that said "Billy Gene Dillon is a very important person" as a reminder that his killing remains unsolved.

Sarah Dillon is not the only person with unanswered questions about the killing spree initiated by Muhammad and Malvo seven years ago, which culminated with 13 shootings and 10 deaths over a three-week span that terrorized the Washington region.

As Virginia prepares to execute Muhammad on Tuesday, authorities are unable to answer perhaps the most basic question about the killings: How many people did he and Malvo shoot and kill?

The killing spree in the Washington area in October 2002 is well documented. Beginning on Oct. 2, Muhammad and Malvo shot 13 people at random with a high-powered rifle, firing from the trunk of a modified, beat-up Chevy Caprice. Ten were killed before authorities finally tracked down the pair at a Maryland rest stop.

But the sniper shootings started before Muhammad and Malvo reached the Beltway, with a number of victims killed or wounded as the duo drove across the country.

Investigators have clearly linked them to some of these prelude shootings, though they have never stood trial for them. Others fall into a gray area — police have suspicions, perhaps, but no proof.

The question became even murkier in 2006, when Malvo reportedly confessed to four additional shootings, including two killings, that had not been linked to him.

If Malvo's reported confessions are accepted as true, it would mean he and Muhammad are responsible for 27 shootings resulting in 17 deaths in 10 states (Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Washington, Georgia, Texas, California, Florida, Arizona and Louisiana) plus the District of Columbia.

But Malvo would only talk to police in jurisdictions that promised not to prosecute him, a deal some agencies weren't willing to make.

So in Clearwater, Fla., the golf course shooting of Albert Michalczyk on May 18, 2002, officially remains unsolved, though Michalczyk took Malvo's reported confession in 2006 as confirmation of something he long suspected.

"My wife immediately thought it was these guys," Michalczyk said at the time. "We put two and two together, but we never came up with four. Now, we are coming up with four."

Police from Tucson, Ariz., consider the golf course killing of Jerry Taylor solved based on their interview with Malvo, which they obtained only after agreeing not to prosecute him.

The victim's daughter, Cheryll Witz, decided that knowing the truth was more important than seeing Malvo face criminal charges, given the fact that he was already serving life in prison. At one point, Malvo even called Witz on the telephone and apologized.

Back in Texas though, Sarah Dillon still doesn't know who shot and killed her son, Billy Gene Dillon, 37, in May 2002 outside a rural Denton County home about 40 miles north of Dallas. Local authorities submitted bullet fragments in 2002 from their investigation of Dillon's death to the task force that investigated the sniper shootings, but tests were inconclusive.

At the time, they had little reason to suspect the snipers except for the fact that Dillon had apparently been shot at a distance by a high-powered rifle, just like the victims of the D.C. sniper spree. Police agencies from across the country took similar actions, to see if unsolved killings could be connected to Muhammad and Malvo.

Denton County sheriff's spokesman Tom Reedy expressed some frustration about the inability to get answers from the Washington-area authorities regarding Billy Gene Dillon's death.

"If they give you an answer, let us know," he said.

The FBI, part of the sniper task force that helped eventually catch Muhammad and Malvo, declined to comment on how many people the snipers shot and killed, except to say the question is "complicated."

"To further complicate it, the statements of Muhammad and Malvo need to be relied on as to who performed any given shooting. Needless to say, their statements cannot be vetted for each and every event," FBI spokesman Richard Wolf said in an e-mail.

State and local authorities, including Fairfax County Police, Montgomery County Police, the Montgomery County State's Attorney and Maryland Office of the Attorney General all referred the question to other agencies.

The prosecutor who put Muhammad on death row, Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, said it may be impossible to know how many people were killed.

"I don't know that you can trust anything Malvo says," Ebert said, referring to Malvo's reported confessions. Malvo's statements have not always been consistent — he at first took responsibility for pulling the trigger on all the shootings, but later testified that Muhammad, more often than not, was the shooter.

"There may well be more we don't know about, but who knows?" Ebert said.

Carmeta Albarus Lindo, a social worker who testified on Malvo's behalf at his first trial and has maintained a relationship with him, said it's up to Malvo's attorneys to decide whether he will provide statements to police without promises of immunity.

Malvo's attorney on the Maryland cases, William Brennan, said he can't comment because Malvo could still theoretically face prosecution in other states.

Sarah Dillon, meanwhile, is well aware that Muhammad's death eliminates one of the people who can answer her questions about her son's murder.

"All I'm asking for is answers," she said, "before they leave this world."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091108/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_unanswered_questions

[BeastofBears]

Ahhh, they know he did it, they just want to hear it from the horse's a**, I mean, mouth.

Some people should be on the planet as little as possible, and John Allen Muhammed is one of them. Shooting people pumping gas :flamemad:! Good riddance to bad rubbish, as my grandma would say.

[samanthajane13]

DC area relives terror as sniper's execution nears
By DAVID DISHNEAU, Associated Press Writer David Dishneau, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 16 mins ago

WHEATON, Md. – When James D. Martin was shot dead on an early October evening seven years ago in the parking lot of a grocery store in Wheaton, a northern Washington suburb, it got little attention on the nightly news.

Early the next morning, a landscaper was fatally shot in nearby Rockville, also by a .223-caliber bullet. Then a cabbie, at a gas station not far away. There was another shooting a half-hour later just up the road — a woman slain as she sat reading on a sidewalk bench. Within 90 minutes, another woman was gunned down while vacuuming her van at a service station.

By 10 a.m., it was clear that something sinister was happening. Something awful.

Then it spread.

A sniper killing that night in Washington moved the killings south. The next day, a woman was wounded in a craft store parking lot in Fredericksburg, Va., 50 miles from D.C.

Fear reigned. People stayed indoors, afraid to go shopping or pump gas. Authorities on television recommended ways to avoid becoming targets. Schoolchildren were kept inside at recess and drilled on duck-and-cover techniques.

Then came a lull — three days without a shooting. But on Oct. 7, 13-year-old Iran Brown was shot in the chest as he was dropped off at school in Bowie, Md., just east of Washington.

"Shooting a kid — it's getting to be really, really personal now," a tearful Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose told a news conference as the nation's collective concerns settled on its capital.

There were three more fatal sniper shootings in Virginia the next week, followed by another break — three days. Four. Five. Just long enough for people to relax, at least a little.

"We were thinking everything was going to be OK," said retired school teacher Bernice Easter, of Wheaton.

It wasn't. On Oct. 19, a man was shot outside a steakhouse in Ashland, Va., about 80 miles south of Washington. Three more days passed quietly. Then bus driver Conrad Johnson was killed in Aspen Hill, Md., not far from where the shootings began.

On Oct. 24, police captured John Allen Muhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo at a rest stop 50 miles northwest of D.C. The nerve-tingling terror that had gripped the region's 5.4 million people and captivated the nation was over.

As Virginia prepares to execute Muhammad on Tuesday for murdering Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station in Manassas, echoes of those three weeks on edge are reverberating throughout the region.

"I don't think anybody felt safe," said Easter, now 82. "I was afraid to go out in my yard."

Paula Jean Hallberg, 54, of Silver Spring, felt a shiver every time she walked across the her YMCA's wide-open parking lot.

"I would move about a lot," she said.

Ginger Pinchot, 67, a learning specialist from Kemp Mill, would start the gas pump and then sit inside her car.

"It was just that random feeling," she said. "It feels like a roulette wheel when you don't know where it's going to hit next."

Steve Murchake, 59, a tax accountant from Silver Spring, Md., remembered helicopters roaring overhead seemingly every morning as he started his commute to Herndon, Va., and the checkpoints that snarled Beltway traffic after nearly every shooting. Police focused on white utility vans and white box trucks, which witnesses had spotted — coincidentally, it turned out — near some of the shootings.

House painter Jose Romero, 39, of Silver Spring, parked his white van and took his car to work to avoid being stopped by police. Like everyone else, he imagined cross hairs trained on him whenever he stopped for gas.

"Keep moving around, don't be a target — that's what I heard on the news," Romero said.

Christian Torrenegra said he and his friends at Newport Mill Middle School in Kensington quit walking to a nearby mall after school and took the bus straight home instead. Safe on board, they made a game of pretending to spot the sniper.

"It was like, 'Oh, I see the van!'" said Torrenegra, now 19 and a student at Montgomery College. "We didn't want to take it seriously because we were so young, but at the same time we were scared."

Rachel Pinchot, Ginger's daughter-in-law, said she hasn't been able to bring herself to go back to the Aspen Hill grocery store where James Martin was killed.

Such lasting effects aren't surprising, said N. Kyle Smith, associate professor of psychology at Ohio Wesleyan University. Negative news tend to influence one's behavior more strongly than positive information, he said, and the contagion of group anxiety can intensify one's emotional response.

"Even though the fear is gone, the effect on their behavior can still linger," Smith said.

Montgomery County's Mental Health Association received hundreds of calls from apparent first-timers during the sniper period, executive director Sharon E. Friedman said. Many were parents seeking advice on dealing with both their children's fears and their own.

"We advised people to try to stick to their routine as much as possible," even if it meant exercising at home instead of the gym, she said. "The routine is a comforting thing."

At Brookside Gardens, a botanical park in Wheaton, a granite monument to the region's 10 slain sniper victims invites quiet reflection on a time that was anything but tranquil. Spokeswoman Leslie McDermott said she hopes Muhammad's execution will bring calm at last.

"I think everybody was victimized," McDermott said. "I think everybody lost a sense of freedom and innocence during that time. They were scared."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_grip_of_fear

[samanthajane13]

US Supreme Court refuses to stop sniper execution
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 2 mins ago

RICHMOND, Va. – The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled execution of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad.

The Court did not comment Monday on why it refused to consider his appeal.

Muhammad is scheduled to die by injection at a Virginia prison for the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during a three-week spree in 2002 across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona. Malvo is serving a life sentence.

Muhammad still has a clemency petition before Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Muhammad's attorney, Jonathan Sheldon, says "Virginia will execute a severely mentally ill man who also suffered from Gulf War Syndrome the day before Veterans Day."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution


:beer:WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!:beer:

:seeya:

[One2Snoop]

Good news! :beer:

[deacon]

What time? I want to know when he goes.

[BeastofBears]

What time? I want to know when he goes.

9 pm, Tuesday night. http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=87162

That's 6 pm for me. I will be cracking a beer and looking at the pictures of his victims at 6 pm.

[deacon]

9 pm, Tuesday night. http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=87162

That's 6 pm for me. I will be cracking a beer and looking at the pictures of his victims at 6 pm.

9 pm it is. What a waste of human flesh. IMO

[One2Snoop]

9 pm, Tuesday night. http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=87162

That's 6 pm for me. I will be cracking a beer and looking at the pictures of his victims at 6 pm.


Oh I think I need to go out and buy a bottle of wine for this. :beer:

[samanthajane13]

I've got a bottle of vodka, a 6 pack of 7-Up and a lime.

Katey's got a couple of wine coolers...she'll be down for the count before she hits the second one...

We're good to go!!!

[samanthajane13]

D.C. sniper mastermind set to be executed Tuesday
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 10, 6:07 am ET

RICHMOND, Va. – Unless Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine steps in, sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad will be executed Tuesday for the attacks that terrorized the nation's capital region for three weeks in 2002.

Muhammad is set to die by injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. His attorneys have asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they say he is mentally ill. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station during a spree that left 10 dead across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

He and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

For the families of those killed, the day is a long time coming.

Cheryll Witz is one of several victims' relatives who were going to watch the execution. Malvo confessed that, at Muhammad's direction, he shot her father, Jerry Taylor, on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002.

"He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," she said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"

The shootings terrorized the Washington region, with victims gunned down while doing everyday chores like shopping or pumping gas. People stayed indoors. Those who had to go outside weaved as they walked or bobbed their heads to make themselves less of a target.

The terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and Malvo as they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted so a shooter could hide in the trunk and fire through a hole in the body of the vehicle. Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia.

Death penalty opponents planned vigils across the state, and some were headed for Jarratt, about an hour south of Richmond, for the execution.

Beth Panilaitis, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said those who planned to protest understand the fear that gripped the community, and the nation, during the attacks.

"The greater metro area and the citizens of Virginia have been safe from this crime for seven years," Panilaitis said. "Incarceration has worked and life without the possibility of parole has and will continue to keep the people of Virginia safe."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091110/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[beemer]

So we shall all be here with beverage of choice for 9 P.M. ? :beer:

[BeastofBears]

So we shall all be here with beverage of choice for 9 P.M. ? :beer:

I am so IN! :beer:

[deacon]

So we shall all be here with beverage of choice for 9 P.M. ? :beer:

10-4. I will be here.

[beemer]

Good stuff-I'm gonna set an alarm just to remind me-that darn kraft disease :beer:

[beemer]

Anyone heard if CNN will be there? Meaning outside

[beemer]

I just checked CNN and LKL will have coverage but he doesn't start till 9.

[BeastofBears]

Anyone heard if CNN will be there? Meaning outside

You want to see a bunch of people he DIDN'T shoot at light candles and sing Blowing in the Wind? :tongue:

[beemer]

You want to see a bunch of people he DIDN'T shoot at light candles and sing Blowing in the Wind? :tongue:

LMAO- No i'm hoping to hear from someone who watched that he panicked and struggled and was terrified. Key word 'hoping". I get great comfort tho knowing he will be answering to the one that really matters in a few short hours.

[samanthajane13]

ITA, Beem...I'll be there with bells on!!

Can't wait till this scum takes his Red-Eye to HELL.

[deacon]

4 hours to go.

[BeastofBears]

3 now

[samanthajane13]

DC sniper's Muhammad's execution set for tonight
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia's governor refused to spare the life of John Allen Muhammad and cleared the way for his execution Tuesday night for the sniper attacks in 2002 that left 10 dead and spread such fear people were afraid to go shopping, cut grass or pump gas.

The three-week killing spree in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., was carried out with a teenage accomplice who is serving life in prison without parole. Muhammad, 48, was to die by injection at 9 p.m. after he exhausted his court appeals and Gov. Tim Kaine denied clemency.

Muhammad's attorneys had asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they said he was severely mentally ill.

"I think crimes that are this horrible, you just can't understand them, you can't explain them," said Kaine, a Democrat known for carefully considering death penalty cases. "They completely dwarf your ability to look into the life of a person who would do something like this and understand why."

Muhammad was sentenced to death for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station in northern Virginia. He and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected of fatal shootings in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and Washington state.

Prosecutors chose to put Muhammad and Malvo on trial in Virginia first because of the state's willingness to execute killers. He and Malvo were also convicted of six other murders in Maryland and both were sentenced to six life terms.

The death penalty was later ruled out for Malvo because the U.S. Supreme Court barred the execution of juveniles, who was 17 during the killing spree.

The motive for the shootings in the nation's capital region remains murky. Malvo said Muhammad wanted to use the plot to extort $10 million from the government to set up a camp in Canada where homeless children would be trained as terrorists. But Muhammad's ex-wife has said she believes the attacks were a smoke screen for his plan to kill her and regain custody of their three children.

Muhammad has never testified or explained why he directed the attacks that terrorized the Washington region, with victims gunned down while doing everyday chores. People stayed indoors, and those who had to go outside weaved as they walked or bobbed their heads to make themselves less of a target.

The terror ended Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and Malvo as they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted so a shooter could hide in the trunk and fire through a hole in the body of the vehicle.

Muhammad had been in and out of the military since he graduated from high school in Louisiana and entered the National Guard. A convert to Islam, John Allen Williams would later change his name to Muhammad.

He joined the Army in 1985 and trained in Washington state as a combat engineer. He did not take special sniper training but earned an expert rating in the M-16 rifle — the military cousin of the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the sniper shootings.

However, his life was full of failure. He was twice divorced, and after serving in the first Iraq war, he could never find financial stability.

He opened a karate school but it didn't last; neither did his car repair shop. The man who looked for self-discipline in exercise and Islam found himself living in a homeless shelter in 2001 and a few months later was accused of shoplifting food.

On Tuesday, Muhammad met with immediate family members but did not have a spiritual adviser, Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said.

The families of those killed were ready for execution day.

Cheryll Witz was one of several victims' relatives who planned to watch the execution. Malvo confessed that, at Muhammad's direction, he shot her father, Jerry Taylor, on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002.

"He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," Witz said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"

Death penalty opponents planned vigils across the state, and some were headed for Jarratt, about an hour south of Richmond, for the execution at Greensville Correctional Center.

Beth Panilaitis, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said those who planned to protest understand the fear that gripped the community, and the nation, during the attacks.

"The greater metro area and the citizens of Virginia have been safe from this crime for seven years," Panilaitis said. "Incarceration has worked and life without the possibility of parole has and will continue to keep the people of Virginia safe."

Kaine, Virginia's first Roman Catholic governor, has openly expressed his faith-based opposition to capital punishment, but promised as a candidate in 2005 that he would carry out Virginia's death penalty law despite his beliefs.

In September, Kaine delayed the October execution of a former Army intelligence worker from Maryland convicted of killing a northern Virginia couple, saying he needed more time to consider the case. That execution is scheduled for next week.

___

Associated Press writer Bob Lewis contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091110/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[One2Snoop]

Got my 7 deadly zins. LOL thought it was appropriate for the occasion. :beer: 1 hour 10 minutes to go.

[deacon]

Got my 7 deadly zins. LOL thought it was appropriate for the occasion. :beer: 1 hour 10 minutes to go.

Read to watch LKL. Just waiting.

[beemer]

Hanging here too-less than 1 hr. to go Woo Hoo :beer:

[beemer]

I'll start passing the popcorn bout 7:59. Kinda feels like new years waiting for the ball to drop-only better :seeya:

[beemer]

Snoop-pass me a zin please ;)

[deacon]

Less than 30 minutes left.

[BeastofBears]

injection, right?

[beemer]

I think thats what i read Bob-wonder if he's walking the mile now :D

[beemer]

Bet he's all strapped in and good to go............ Passing popcorn :beer:

[BeastofBears]

eating popcorn.

[beemer]

eating popcorn.

Salt,unsalted or flavor of your choice-I have em all

[samanthajane13]

Popcorn popped...drinks poured...taking first drink!!

[samanthajane13]

butter-lovers...oooooooooooooooooo

[deacon]

less than 5 minutes to go. I wonder what his last words will be.

[samanthajane13]

Damn-I wish I had cable or dish...but I'm good to live vicariously through you guys...

[One2Snoop]

less than 5 minutes to go. I wonder what his last words will be.

I just read on CNN he says he's innocent. :cuss: :punch:

Also, an article stated he's shown no remorse for the killings. :flamemad:

Be gone you evil monster :flamemad:

[beemer]

Good stuff-well lets raise our glasses to all the victims and their families-may they find peace in their lives :rose:(Clink)

[deacon]

I just read on CNN he says he's innocent. :cuss: :punch:

Also, an article stated he's shown no remorse for the killings. :flamemad:

Be gone you evil monster :flamemad:

Shortly. they just showed the outside of the prison.

Execution underway. Announcement coming soon.

[lorettalockhorn]

Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. Jeremiah 23:19

[beemer]

All bowls passed-i got lots so dig in :beer:

[BeastofBears]

Should have been by firing squad.

[BeastofBears]

Good stuff-well lets raise our glasses to all the victims and their families-may they find peace in their lives :rose:(Clink)

clink! :rose:

[samanthajane13]

I hope he fights it...every bit of the way

[beemer]

Should have been by firing squad.

Yeah DH just said whats wrong with a bullet :shrug:

[deacon]

And God spoke all these words:

13 "You shall not murder.


Numbers 35:16

16 " 'If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death."

I would think a bullet would fit as an iron object.

[beemer]

I hope he fights it...every bit of the way

Me too-feels terror his victim's did and the sheer terror it created for the public.

[One2Snoop]

Any east coast/local channels covering this live?

[BeastofBears]

Deuteronomy 19:21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

[deacon]

Any east coast/local channels covering this live?

Not that I know of.

[deacon]

Deuteronomy 19:21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

I guess we could keep this up all night if need be.:patriot:

[samanthajane13]

Anyone see "Brave Heart"??

What's wrong with being drawn, quartered and disemboweled???

[BeastofBears]

Me too-feels terror his victim's did and the sheer terror it created for the public.

I'll never forget people running across parking lots darting around, hiding behind their cars while gas was pumping...

[BeastofBears]

I guess we could keep this up all night if need be.:patriot:

I hope it need not be...I want that announcement pronto!

[BeastofBears]

movement...a white van just pulled up. here he comes

No last words, ignored the people there, no fighting or apparent fear.

[One2Snoop]

Done! 9:11 PM

[samanthajane13]

Or to quote a very wise woman...

"Skin, Salt, Repeat"

[samanthajane13]

Yahoooo!!!!!

[deacon]

He is dead. He is no more. 9:11 pm.

May his victims rest in peace and may God have mercy upon and repair the lives of the victims families.

He will now face his Maker and give an account of what he has done in this life.

[BeastofBears]

Toast.
And toast!
http://i27.tinypic.com/vzzb0n.jpg

Would that all victims of depraved criminals got timely justice (a poor substitute for their loved ones...)

[lorettalockhorn]

Good stuff-well lets raise our glasses to all the victims and their families-may they find peace in their lives :rose:(Clink)

Amen.

[samanthajane13]

DC sniper said to be 'fearless' before execution


JARRATT, Va. – Sniper John Allen Muhammad is meeting with relatives in the hours before his execution and one of his attorneys described the convicted killer as fearless.

Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said Muhammad had no regrets and would die with dignity Tuesday night in Virginia. Gordon also insisted that Muhammad was innocent.

Gordon says Muhammad met with one of his sons before the execution and then reminisced with the attorney about the time he spent with his son before Muhammad went to prison.

A sister of one of Muhammad's ex-wives says Muhammad returned from the first Gulf War a changed man. Sheron (shuh-RON) Norman says the nation should do a better job of caring for its veterans.

The 48-year-old Muhammad is set to die at 9 p.m. for three-week killing spree in 2002 that left 10 dead.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution_last_hours

[deacon]

Revelation Chapter 20:

11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

[BeastofBears]

DC sniper said to be 'fearless' before execution


JARRATT, Va. – Sniper John Allen Muhammad is meeting with relatives in the hours before his execution and one of his attorneys described the convicted killer as fearless.

Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said Muhammad had no regrets and would die with dignity Tuesday night in Virginia. Gordon also insisted that Muhammad was innocent.

Gordon says Muhammad met with one of his sons before the execution and then reminisced with the attorney about the time he spent with his son before Muhammad went to prison.

A sister of one of Muhammad's ex-wives says Muhammad returned from the first Gulf War a changed man. Sheron (shuh-RON) Norman says the nation should do a better job of caring for its veterans.

The 48-year-old Muhammad is set to die at 9 p.m. for three-week killing spree in 2002 that left 10 dead.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution_last_hours

"It was great being your dad, son, and spending time with you. Sorry I had to go out and kill all those people and take me out of your life forever, but you know, bigger purpose and all..." :flamemad:

[deacon]

They now say he staggered into the death room. Held up by officials.

[BeastofBears]

They now say he staggered into the death room. Held up by officials.

better.

[deacon]

better.

And the worst is yet to come for him.

[lorettalockhorn]

...Marion Lewis, 57, whose 25-year-old daughter, Lori Lewis Rivera, was killed by the snipers while she was vaccuming her car at a Maryland gas station, sought financial aid from a television news program just to make the trip from his home in Idaho, to the Virginia death house.

Rivera's murder, Lewis says, devastated the family. And he has been marking the days to Muhammad's execution.

"I was afraid he (Muhammad) was going to outlive me on death row," Lewis says...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-10-sniper_N.htm

[old_soul]

Done! 9:11 PM

Another waste of life..and he went with not a word of remorse, not a word to the victims families, not a word to his own. Yes, I hope he was afraid. He's going to hell..yes, the worse is yet to come.

...."when young, he was strapped to lawnmower batteries, beaten and abused but he thrived ...only to come out of the service a changed man" (so says his atty........)

So be it.

[deacon]

His lawyer is spinning like a top:

16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

[lorettalockhorn]

... Muhammad had no final words. He says he didn't hear him utter a word the entire time.

Reporters, who witnessed the execution, confirm Traylor's statements. The reporters say Muhammad walked into the room and appeared to be "staggering a bit."

The reporter witnesses say Muhammad appeared to stare straight at the ceiling as the execution process began. He took 7 deep breaths, say the reporters, before becoming motionless.

The reporters say Muhammad was "clean shaven, calm and he didn't resist."

He was wearing a short sleeved, light blue denim shirt, dark denim pants and flip flops.

Muhammad was pronounced dead from a lethal injection at approximately 9:11pm at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.

Virginia prosecutor, Paul Ebert, says Muhammad died "quite peacefully, better than his victims." Ebert went on to say he hopes the victims family have some closure.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/breaking/story.aspx?storyid=93513&catid=158

[samanthajane13]

DC sniper John Allen Muhammad executed
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago

JARRATT, Va. – The mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 in the Washington, D.C., region has been executed. A prison spokesman says John Allen Muhammad died by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday at Greensville Correctional Center.

Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during the spree that terrorized Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., over a three-week period. His teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, was sentenced to life in prison.

Prison spokesman Larry Traylor says Muhammad had no final words. He says he didn't hear him utter a word the entire time.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[BeastofBears]

I've seen some bad stretches, but nothing like 2001/2002. 9/11, the Queens plane crash, the anthrax attacks, DC sniper. What a couple of anni horribili!

[One2Snoop]

His lawyer is spinning like a top:

16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

His atty was a total asshat - even my hubby agree's with me on this one!!!

[BeastofBears]

For anyone who watched Larry King: is it just me, or was that a really wrong time to be hearing about Lee Boyd Malvo's great poetry?

[One2Snoop]

I've seen some bad stretches, but nothing like 2001/2002. 9/11, the Queens plane crash, the anthrax attacks, DC sniper. What a couple of anni horribili!

We had just moved from the area within a month of 9/11 - my long distance phone bills were astronomical for months on end. I know that's minor to what really went on but knowing the people we knew that still lived there, listening to the horror and terror racing through their minds was awful.

[lorettalockhorn]

For anyone who watched Larry King: is it just me, or was that a really wrong time to be hearing about Lee Boyd Malvo's great poetry?

Used to love LK, but he's an anachronism.

[One2Snoop]

For anyone who watched Larry King: is it just me, or was that a really wrong time to be hearing about Lee Boyd Malvo's great poetry?

Not only that but his defense atty going on about evidence blah, blah blah.

The dude did it, nuff said. :patriot:

[One2Snoop]

Used to love LK, but he's an anachronism.

LOL - I don't like watching LKL but my hubby does. I find him boring but I thought he did a good job for the most part in covering the execution.

[BeastofBears]

Not only that but his defense atty going on about evidence blah, blah blah.

The dude did it, nuff said. :patriot:

Come on, who doesn't have a hunting blind built into the trunk of their Caprice?

[beemer]

Used to love LK, but he's an anachronism.

DH asked me at one point tonight if Larry had fallen asleep-kinda making some grunting sounds. I think his age is sure showing. I remember a time not all that long ago i had to quit watching-miserable as hay. Somebody musta tuned him in :shrug:

[BeastofBears]

LOL - I don't like watching LKL but my hubby does. I find him boring but I thought he did a good job for the most part in covering the execution.

It was the last 15 when it started to drift...I just was thinking of the family who were guests having to listen to Malvo being such a changed man and a good poet and what have you. Before that, good coverage. Of course, I think it might have been the only coverage.

[One2Snoop]

For anyone who watched Larry King: is it just me, or was that a really wrong time to be hearing about Lee Boyd Malvo's great poetry?

Not only that but his defense atty going on about evidence blah, blah blah.

The dude did it, nuff said. :patriot:

Ooops that was Muhammad's atty going on about evidence, but yes I agree about the Malvo thing, he should've been in the next room over receiving the same IMO.

[samanthajane13]

D.C. sniper Muhammad executed for 2002 attacks
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 49 mins ago

JARRATT, Va. – John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the sniper attacks that left 10 dead, was executed Tuesday night as relatives of the victims watched, reliving the killing spree that terrorized the Washington metro area for three weeks in October 2002.

He looked calm and stoic, but was twitching and blinking as the injections began, defiant to the end, refusing to utter any final words. Victims' families sat behind glass while watching the execution, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses.

"He died very peacefully, much more than most of his victims," said Prince William County prosecutor Paul Ebert, who witnessed Muhammad die by injection at 9:11 p.m. at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond. Muhammad, dressed in a blue shirt, jeans and flip-flops, had no final statement.

Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the three-week spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station said when he watched Muhammad's chest moving for the last time, he was glad.

"I feel better. I think I can breathe better and I'm happy he's gone. Because he's not going to hurt anyone else," he said.

Dean's brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was a point of closure but that he was "overcome by the sadness that the whole situation generates in my heart."

"Honestly it was surreal watching the life being sapped out of somebody intentionally was very different," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

J. Wyndal Gordon, one of Muhammad's attorneys, described his client in his final hours as fearless and still insisting he was innocent.

"He will die with dignity — dignity to the point of defiance," Gordon said.

The shootings terrorized the region, as victim after victim was shot down while doing everyday chores: going shopping, pumping gas, mowing the lawn. One child was shot while walking into his middle school.

People stayed indoors. Those who did go outside weaved as they walked or bobbed their heads to make themselves a less easy target.

The campaign of terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, as they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted for a shooter to perch in its trunk without being detected. Malvo is serving a life prison term.

They also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied clemency Tuesday.

___

Associated Press Writer Steve Szkotak and Bob Lewis contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[samanthajane13]

Silent DC sniper mastermind Muhammad executed
By DENA POTTER, Associated Press Writer Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer – 21 mins ago

JARRATT, Va. – Sniper John Allen Muhammad refused to utter any last words as he was executed, taking to the grave answers about why and how he plotted the killings of 10 people that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.

The 48-year-old died by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched from behind glass, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond.

Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

He never testified or explained why he masterminded the shootings with the help of a teenage accomplice. That left questions unanswered about why he methodically hunted people going about their daily chores, why he chose his victims, including a middle schooler on his way to class, and how many victims there were.

Muhammad stepped into Virginia's death chamber and within seconds was lying on a gurney, tapping his left foot, his arms spread wide with a needle dug into each.

"Mr. Muhammad, do you have any last words?" the warden asked. Muhammad, looking calm and stoic, said nothing.

Meyers' brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was sobering and "surreal." He said other witnesses expressed a range of feelings, including some who were overcome with emotion.

"I would have liked him at some point in the process to take responsibility, to show remorse," Meyers said. "We didn't get any of that tonight."

After the first of the three-drug lethal cocktail was administered, Muhammad blinked repeatedly and took about seven deep breaths. Within a minute, he was motionless.

Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station, said that when he watched Muhammad's chest moving for the last time, he was glad.

"I feel better. I think I can breathe better," he said. "I'm glad he's gone because he's not going to hurt anyone else."

J. Wyndal Gordon, one of Muhammad's attorneys, described his client in his final hours as fearless and still insisting he was innocent.

"He will die with dignity — dignity to the point of defiance," Gordon said before going inside to watch the execution.

The terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo while they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted for a shooter to perch in its trunk without being detected.

Malvo, who was 17 when carrying out the attacks, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing Linda Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shot as she and her husband loaded supplies at a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va.

The men also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday, and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied clemency Tuesday.

Muhammad's attorneys had asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they said Muhammad was severely mentally ill.

"I think crimes that are this horrible, you just can't understand them, you can't explain them," said Kaine, a Democrat known for carefully considering death penalty cases.

A small group of death penalty opponents gathered on a grassy area near the prison and had a sign reading, "We remember the victims, but not with more killing."

Muhammad was born John Allen Williams and changed his name after converting to Islam. He had been in and out of the military since he graduated from high school in Louisiana and entered the National Guard. He joined the Army in 1985. He did not take special sniper training but earned an expert rating in the M-16 rifle — the military cousin of the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the D.C.-area shootings.

The motive for the attacks remains murky. Malvo said Muhammad wanted to extort $10 million from the government to set up a camp in Canada where homeless children would be trained as terrorists. Muhammad's ex-wife said she believes they were a smoke screen for his plan to kill her and regain custody of their three children.

Sonia Hollingsworth-Wills, the mother of Conrad Johnson, the last man slain that October, sat in the back seat of a car outside the prison before the execution, which she chose not to witness. But she said she wanted to be there and was counting the minutes until Muhammad's death.

"It was the most horrifying day of my life," she said. "I'll never get complete closure but at least I can put this behind me."

Cheryll Witz, who's father, Jerry Taylor, was fatally shot on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002, said she was unhappy that Muhammad didn't say anything before he died. But she said his execution begins a new chapter in her life.

"I've waited seven long years for this," she said. "My life is totally beginning now. I have all my closure, and my justice and my peace."

___

Associated Press writers Steve Szkotak in Jarratt and Bob Lewis in Richmond contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_execution

[samanthajane13]

DC sniper's ex-wife, children cope with execution

WASHINGTON – One of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad's ex-wives says it was "very difficult" to watch her children grieve as their father was executed.

Mildred Muhammad told The Associated Press on Thursday that she and her three teenage children watched news coverage of his Virginia execution in complete silence at their Maryland home Tuesday. She says the children asked to see their father but he did not meet with them.

Mildred Muhammad maintains she was the real target of the 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 in the Washington, D.C., region. Her ex-husband was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during the spree that terrorized Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., over a three-week period.

His funeral is scheduled next week in Baton Rouge, La.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091112/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_ex_wife;_ylt=AhL7Zj4T8HWB1kv.5pueI_.s0NU E;_ylu=X3oDMTFlZHBvcTZ1BHBvcwM2NwRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9 uX3Vfc19uZXdzBHNsawNkY3NuaXBlcnNleC0-

[lorettalockhorn]

DC sniper's ex-wife, children cope with execution

WASHINGTON – One of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad's ex-wives says it was "very difficult" to watch her children grieve as their father was executed.

Mildred Muhammad told The Associated Press on Thursday that she and her three teenage children watched news coverage of his Virginia execution in complete silence at their Maryland home Tuesday. She says the children asked to see their father but he did not meet with them.

Mildred Muhammad maintains she was the real target of the 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 in the Washington, D.C., region. Her ex-husband was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during the spree that terrorized Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., over a three-week period.

His funeral is scheduled next week in Baton Rouge, La.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091112/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_ex_wife;_ylt=AhL7Zj4T8HWB1kv.5pueI_.s0NU E;_ylu=X3oDMTFlZHBvcTZ1BHBvcwM2NwRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9 uX3Vfc19uZXdzBHNsawNkY3NuaXBlcnNleC0-

B@st@rd held the entire country hostage and made victims of his own children.