John Allen Muhammad

John Allen Muhammad (born John Allen Williams on December 31, 1960) carried out the Beltway sniper attacks in an apparent attempt to extort $10 million dollars through terrorism. He and his younger partner Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002, following tips from alert citizens.

Prosecution, convictions, death sentence, pending charges

In October 2003, Muhammad went on trial for the murder of Dean Meyers at a Manassas, Virginia service station. The trial had been moved from Prince William County, where Meyers was killed, to Virginia Beach, approximately 200 miles away. Muhammad was granted the right to represent himself in his defense, and dismissed his legal counsel, though he immediately switched back to having legal representation after his opening argument. Muhammad was charged with murder, terrorism, conspiracy and the illegal use of a firearm, and faced a possible death sentence. Prosecutors said the shootings were part of a plot to extort $10 million from local and state governments. The prosecution said that they would make the case for 16 shootings allegedly involving Muhammad. The terrorism charge against Muhammad required prosecutors to prove he committed at least two shootings in a three-year period.

Related Topics:
October - 2003 - Manassas, Virginia - Prince William County - Virginia Beach - Murder - Terrorism - Conspiracy

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The prosecution called more than 130 witnesses and introduced more than 400 pieces of evidence intended to prove that Muhammad had undertaken the shooting spree and ordered Malvo to help carry it out. However, the prosecution never introduced direct evidence that Muhammad had killed anyone. Instead, it methodically assembled bits of evidence intended to leave the inescapable impression that he had been at the center of the killings.

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That evidence included a rifle, found in Muhammad's car, that has been linked by ballistics tests not only to 8 of the 10 killings in the Washington area but also to 2 others, in Louisiana and Alabama; the car itself, which was modified, prosecutors say, so that a sniper could shoot from inside the trunk; and a laptop computer, also found in the car, that contained maps with icons pinpointing shooting scenes.

Related Topics:
Ballistics test - Louisiana - Alabama - Laptop

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There were also witness accounts that put Muhammad across the street from one shooting and his car near the scene of several others. And there was a recorded phone call to a police hotline in which a man, his voice identified by a detective as Muhammad's, demanded money in exchange for stopping the shootings.

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"Certainly this is a circumstantial case," said Paul B. Ebert, the prosecutor. "But I would submit to the court that it would be hard to imagine any more circumstances possible that demonstrate he was guilty of being the actual perpetrator of the killing of Dean Meyers" (a victim).

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Muhammad's defense asked the court to drop the capital murder charges due to the fact that there was no direct evidence. Malvo's fingerprints were on the Bushmaster rifle found in Muhammad's car, and genetic material from Muhammad himself was also discovered on the rifle. But the defense contended that Muhammad could not be put to death under Virginia's so-called trigger-man law unless he actually pulled the trigger to kill Meyers, and no one testified that they saw him do so.

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On November 17, 2003, by unanimous verdict of his jury, Muhammad was convicted in Virginia of all four counts in the indictment against him: capital murder for the shooting of Dean H. Meyers; a second charge of capital murder under Virginia's antiterrorism statute, for homicide committed with an intent to terrorize the government or the public at large; conspiracy to commit murder; and the illegal use of a firearm.

Related Topics:
November 17 - 2003 - Jury - Virginia

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In the penalty phase of the trial, the jury after five hours of deliberation over two days unanimously recommended that Muhammad be sentenced to death. On March 9, 2004, a Virginia judge agreed with the jury's recommendation and sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death.

Related Topics:
March 9 - 2004

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On April 22, 2005, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed his death penalty, stating that Muhammad could be sentenced to death because the murder was part of an act of terrorism. The court also rejected an argument by defense lawyers that he could not be sentenced to death because he was not the triggerman in the killings done by Muhammad and his young accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo.

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April 22 - 2005

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:"With calculation, extensive planning, premeditation and ruthless disregard for life, Muhammad carried out his cruel scheme of terror." Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald Lemons

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It is not clear how many any other jurisdictions will be allowed to try him on the capital charges they have pending before he is executed in Virginia. In May 2005, Maryland and Virginia reached an agreement to allow his extradition to grace Maryland charges, but Muhammad was fighting the action legally. He was held at the maximum security Sussex I State Prison near Waverly in Sussex County, Virginia, which houses Virginia's death row inmates. While awaiting execution in Virginia, in August 2005, he was extradited to Maryland to face some of the charges there.

Related Topics:
Executed - Waverly - Sussex County, Virginia - Death row

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