DC sniper John Allen Muhammad executed in Virginia

Wednesday 11th November, 11:45 AM JST

JARRATT, Va —

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

The 48-year-old Muhammad looked calm and stoic, but was twitching and blinking, tapping his left foot as the injections began, defiant to the end, refusing to utter any final words. Victims’ families sat behind glass while watching, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses, who were quiet, looking straight forward, intent on what was happening.

“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 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, DC.

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.”

Muhammad never testified or explained why he directed the shootings, and his secrets died with him.

Meyers’ brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was sobering and “surreal.”

“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.”

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 witness the execution.

Victim after victim was shot down while doing everyday chores: shopping, pumping gas, mowing the lawn. One child was shot while walking into his middle school.

The terror ended on Oct 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, 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 had brain damage and neurological problems, as well as psychotic and delusional behavior, exacerbated by the Gulf War Syndrome he suffered as a sergeant in the first Iraq war.

“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.”

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 DC 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.”

___

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

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Latest 15 of 43 Total Comments Show All

victimcrat at 07:43 PM JST - 11th November

'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.'

He probably wished he had become a community organizer, with ACORN.
WilliB at 08:15 PM JST - 11th November

Madverts:

" I also have serious doubts that this guy was endorsing suicide bombings against US troops in front of other US troops. That's as credible as one of sabiwabi's scoops... "

Take a look at his writings and drawings. After converting to islam, he went whole throttle, dreaming of suicidibe bombings and more 9/11s, culimating in his personal jihad. Death is not a particular deterrent for such a person, since in his mind he is going to paradise and the virgins.
dolphingirl at 08:24 PM JST - 11th November

smithinjapan and 2koind2: I'm with you on this one. I don't believe in the death penalty. If you try to argue that it's not just revenge but some kind of 'moral equivalency law' then you are saying that if someone steels your car, the best way to make everything right is to steel that person's car. And if you argue that only people who are 100% guilty, without any reasonable doubt, should be executed, then we would have to have an absolutely flawless justice system and that is pretty much impossible.

I think the reason why some people are for the death penalty is because we don't want to look at our own dark sides. We are afraid that another human, essenitally the same as us, could do something so terrible. So to make this human ugliness go away, the simplest thing to do is just kill it. This kind of reaction is purely emotional and has no reason behind it.
M51T at 08:34 PM JST - 11th November

John Allen Muhammad was executed because the justice system's "reaction is purely emotional and has no reason behind it."

Seriously, try reading some statutes and on how laws are passed.
WilliB at 08:48 PM JST - 11th November

According to Malvo, Muhammad had a two-phase plan -- six shootings a day for a month, followed by a wave of bombings of schools, school buses and children's hospitals. Malvo said that when he asked Muhammad why, the older man replied: ''For the sheer terror of it -- the worst thing you can do to people is aim at their children.''

http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=3231
Patrick Smash at 10:22 PM JST - 11th November

Mind you, this guy is proof that there really is no terrorist threat in the USA and we are all being deluded. If a group of 5 Islamic fundamentalists in the US bought a sniper rifle each, they could bring the whole country to a standstill. No need for planes, bombs, twin towers, just a quick visit to the local gun store. The fact that this hasn't happened, and this guy was the only one, proves that there are no real terrorists in the USA.
Foxie at 10:38 PM JST - 11th November

Whilst I am against death penality too, I have problems understanding how the victims families can sit behind glass and watch him or someone die. How can a country even allow such an atrocity? I find that as shocking as what he did.
sailwind at 11:11 PM JST - 11th November

I think the reason why some people are for the death penalty is because we don't want to look at our own dark sides. We are afraid that another human, essenitally the same as us, could do something so terrible. So to make this human ugliness go away, the simplest thing to do is just kill it. This kind of reaction is purely emotional and has no reason behind it.

I think the reason that people would be for the death penalty is based on the rational assumption that a person such as this one has worked hard to deserve it really hard. There is really no emotional reason behind rewarding a person getting what he or she really deserves....That is called justice and this one just got it. No
pathat at 11:14 PM JST - 11th November

The death penalty was the appropriate punishment in this case, as a family member of one of the victims said yesterday, "He had a debt to pay to society."

Good-bye and good riddance, John Muhammad.
TheQuestion at 12:41 AM JST - 12th November

Good
JohnBecker at 02:27 AM JST - 12th November

Most people here in the States believe that the death penalty is called for in at least some cases. For someone like this, who terrorized a region over a period of time and killed completely random victims, there certainly is no sense of mercy or compassion or forgiveness. Society wanted its pound of flesh, and it got it last night.

Those of you who don't believe in the use of the death penalty: I don't agree with you, but I can see the point you're making. I will always believe there's a place for it, when used judiciously. I can't think of a more appropriate scenario for its use than in this case.
HonestDictator at 02:45 AM JST - 12th November

@ Bilbo, A risk you'd be willing to take unless its you, or someone you know you mean? Your statement lacks wisdom. As I said, there needs to be a few years before an execution just in case any evidence arises that proves a person may be innocent. I don't think this man is innocent, but all death row inmates need time for their cases to be cemented to be sure they are completely guilty of the charges.
usaexpat at 07:14 AM JST - 12th November

Real shame about that one. This coward picked off innocent people unseen. I think they should turn him loose and conduct the execution ala "Running Man" Rot in h*ll you coward, good riddance.
skipthesong at 11:33 AM JST - 12th November

I really think until you've been in the position where someone in your family has been killed in such a manner, you really shouldn't be pushing your agenda. Put them in jail for life? look at some stats, there are a lot of killers who don't get life and a very particular killer of a particular someone was out of jail in less than ten years.

Maybe you want to risk it and say well its better for the big picture, but again, until you're a victim, you really don't have a moral right to push.

For the above poster: "I think the reason why some people are for the death penalty is because we don't want to look at our own dark sides." YOu have got to be kidding me. Perhaps you are planning something and would prefer the prissy-like win as you are afraid to face your fate.

Look, if you decide to kill someone, how about making sure the state you are doing it in doesn't have capital punishment.
The758 at 08:08 AM JST - 18th November

... I have problems understanding how the victims families can sit behind glass and watch him or someone die. How can a country even allow such an atrocity? I find that as shocking as what he did.

If one of the victims was a family member of mine, I would've seen him sent to the firing squad, or better yet a beheading. He showed no remorse, why should I spend my tax money to feed and house him in prison for the rest of his undeserved life?

That's just my opinion, however. I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with it.