DC Sniper Beltway AttacksSam Brandt

Intro to Legal Systems

My research is being conducted on the DC Sniper case of October 2002. This is

easily relatable for me because I fondly remember the news and fear the East Coast was in

that day. Within my paper I will talk about the sniper, John Allen Muhammad, his

accomplice, Lee Boyd Melvo, and their lives before the crime was committed. Also I will

give an overview of each shooting and victims of the crime. Lastly I will talk about the trial

and the verdict that was reached.

John Allen Muhammad was actually born John Allen Williams in Baton Rouge,

Louisiana. He chose Muhammad to be his last name after converting to Islam (April Witt

and, 2002). As an entrepreneur he owned two businesses: a car repair shop and a karate

school. Both of the business he had started failed. John had a complicated life on the home

front being through two divorces. His wives would not trust him with their children. This

kind of life style caused him to spiral into homelessness and stealing (April Witt and, 2002).

In 1978, right out of high school, John joined the Army National Guard in Louisiana.

In 1985 John was dishonorably discharge for disciplinary issues that got him court-

martialed two times (Walsh, 2009). One thing John got convicted for was striking a

sergeant in the head. As if he did not have enough of the military he enlisted with the Army

in 1985. He deployed to the Gulf War as a Combat Engineer. He became good at demolition

and a weapon expert in the Army. He served almost a decade before he finally retired as a

sergeant. He was also rewarded a marksmanship badge with an expert rating for use of the

M16 rifle (Walsh, 2009). His second wife described Muhammad as a “handy gun enthusiast

that can make a weapon out of anything” (Walsh, 2009).

Muhammad had an uphill battle to get custody of his children. A lot of his frustration

and anger stemmed from not being able to see his kids often. In 1981, he married Carol A.

Williams and they had one son named Lindbergh. Then, in 1985, the couple separated and

two years later divorced (April Witt and, 2002). This is where the troubles started, as he

did not gain custody of Lindbergh. Moving forward in 1988, he married his second wife

and they had three children together. In 1999, his second wife filed for divorce after being

fed up with Muhammad. Then, in 2000, Muhammad’s second wife ordered a restraining

order because he threatened to kill her (April Witt and, 2002).

Lee Boyd Malvo, or also known as, John Lee Malvo help as an accomplice to John

Allen Muhammad. Malvo was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Malvo was a very different child

growing up, killing cats with a slingshot at the age of 8 years old. He was also very

antisocial. Malvo started stealing CDs and comic books, which eventually became a daily

occurrence (Barakat, 2003).

The first encounter Malvo and his mother, Una, had with Muhammad was around

1999 in Antigua and Barbuda (Department of Psychology Radford University, 2003). Una

and John had a strong friendship. In 2001 she left Lee with Muhammad after she moved to

Fort Myers, Florida. When Malvo came to the U.S he came into Miami, Florida, which was in

2001 (Department of Psychology Radford University, 2003). Una had great intentions of

having Malvo there in Florida but he only stayed a couple of months. In December, 2001,

Malvo and his mother were caught in Bellingham, Washington by boarder patrol and

apprehended. Then, in January, 2002, Malvo was released on a $1,500 bond (Los Angeles

Times, 2002). It did not take long for him to link back up with John Muhammad. Deciding to

stick around in the Bellingham, Washington area, Lee enrolled in a high school falsely

calling John Muhammad his dad. The two lived at a nearby homeless shelter (Department

of Psychology Radford University, 2003).

The two together were a deadly combination with Muhammad teaching Malvo his

version of Islam that involved survival training in the woods for hours. Then, on February

18, 2002, Lee Malvo was put to the test by Muhammad to show loyalty. Malvo shot and

killed Keenya Cook in Tacoma, Washington (Department of Psychology Radford University,

2003). Malvo yet again was traced back to a crime scene of a murder in Montgomery,

Alabama at a liquor store where his fingerprints were found (Department of Psychology

Radford University, 2003).

The 22-day sniper shooting began on October 2, 2002 through Maryland and

Northern Virginia (Crime Museum, 2015). In a local Michael’s craft store, a bullet went

through the window and hit a cash register light, and thankfully no victims were hurt. The

first victim killed was James D. Martin, 55, killed outside of a warehouse in Sliver Spring,

Maryland. On October 3rd, James Lee Buchanan, 39, was killed right outside of an auto

dealership in Maryland while cutting grass. The next victim, Prem Kumar Waleker, aged 54,

was killed at a gas station in Maryland. Sarah Ramos, yet another victim was killed leaving a

Maryland post office. Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, aged 25, was vacuuming her car out and

fatally shot. On a street right near the Montgomery County Maryland line, Pascal Charlot,

aged 72, was killed. On October 4th, while loading bags into her mini van, Caroline Seawell,

43-years old, was shot and wounded in Spotsylvania, VA and survived. A young 13-year old

Iran Brown was critically wounded after being dropped off to his middle school class on

October 7th in Bowie, Maryland and he, too, survived (Clark Prosecutor Organization ,

2015). Dean Harold Meyers, 53, was shot and killed while at a Sunoco filling his car up in

Manassas, VA. While at an Exxon station in Massaponax, VA, Kenneth H. Bridges, 53, was

shot and killed on October 11th. FBI-analyst, 47-year-old Linda Franklin, was shot and killed

in a covered parking garage in Falls Church, VA on October 14th. Eating at a Ponderosa

restaurant in Richmond, VA, 37-year-old Jeffery Hopper, was shot and wounded on October

19th. The last victim, 35-year-old Conrad Johnson, was a bus driver and was shot and killed

on the steps of his bus in Montgomery County, Maryland (Clark Prosecutor Organization ,

2015).

On October 24, 2002, Malvo and Muhammad were caught sleeping in their car at a

rest stop in Frederick, County Maryland by FBI. Inside the car were a .223 caliber rifle, GPS,

AT&T calling card, maps, riflescope, digital voice recorder, ammunition, rifle magazine, and

two-way radios (Clark Prosecutor Organization , 2015).

John Allen Muhammad was charged with capital murder for the death of Dean H.

Meyers, second charge of capital murder under Virginia’s anti terrorism statue, illegal use

of firearms, conspiracy to commit murder and lastly homicide with the intend to terrorize

the public and government at large. The verdict was reached on November 17, 2003. On

March 9, 2004, a Virginia judge sentenced Muhammad to death. Five years later, on

November 10, 2009, Muhammad was executed by lethal injection (Crime Museum, 2015).

Lee Boyd Malvo was charged with two capital crimes and unlawful use of a firearm

with the death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin. Later in 2006, Malvo confessed that him and

Muhammad had killed people in Texas, California and Arizona for a total of 17 victims.

Malvo is serving life without parole at Red Onion State prison in Virginia (Crime Museum,

2015).

Why all the madness of shootings? Here’s the real plan: a 3-phase plan that involved

DC and Baltimore metro areas, where they would map out and practice their escape routes

to easily go onto the next shooting. Starting at phase one, the goal was to kill 6 white people

a day for a month. Due to heavy traffic, phase one back fired (Crime Museum, 2015). Phase

two was planned to go to Baltimore, MD. This phase never happened with their intentions

to kill a pregnant woman by shooting her in the stomach. Also, they intended to kill a

Baltimore police officer, then at the funeral set improvised explosive devices up to kill more

officers (Crime Museum, 2015). Lastly phase 3 goal was to extort several million dollars

from the U.S. government. Then this money would be used to travel north into Canada and

recruit orphaned boys and teach them how to shoot weapons and send them out to commit

crimes across the United States (Crime Museum, 2015).

With all the evidence and research that I have gathered, I feel that these shootings

could have been avoided. Muhammad and Malvo both had extremely high criminal

backgrounds before the sniper shootings. There should have been more done to keep a

closer eye on these two individuals or even apprehend them. Plus, there were facts and

witnesses that were concerned about Malvo and Muhammad’s true killing potential to

carry out a shooting spree like this. We must not tread lightly on any person that has a high

criminal background and their possibility to commit the crimes that happens each and

everyday. I believe each of us has an obligation as citizens in the United States to report any

illegal or suspicious activity to higher authority and hopefully limit or avoid crimes like

this.

Works CitedApril Witt and, J. B. (2002, 10 25). John allen muhammad; A failed businessman and

frustrated father. Retrieved 6 23, 2015, from The Washington Post:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/409434313?accountid=12779

Barakat, M. (2003, 12 12). PSYCHIATRIST: MALVO HAD AGGRESSIVE PAST. Retrieved

6 23, 2015, from nclive.org: http://search.proquest.com/docview/280022957?

accountid=12779

Clark Prosecutor Organization . (2015, 1 1). John Allen Muhammad. Retrieved 6 27,

2015, from Clark Prosecutor :

http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/muhammad1181.htm

Crime Museum. (2015, 1 1). The DC Sniper Beltway Attacks. Retrieved 6 27, 2015,

from http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/the-washington-dc-sniper

Department of Psychology Radford University. (2003, 10 30). Lee Boyd Malvo.

Retrieved 6 23, 2015, from Radford University:

http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Malvo,%20Lee

%20Boyd%20-%202005.pdf

Los Angeles Times. (2002, 11 21). Sniper suspect's mom ordered deported. Retrieved

6 23, 2015, from Los Angeles Times:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/421947763?accountid=12779

Walsh, D. (2009, 11 11). The execution of John Muhammad: another gruesome

moment in America. Retrieved 6 23, 2015, from World Socialist Web Site :

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/11/snip-n11.html