FBI grabs potential witness in sniper case

10.00am

WASHINGTON - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Saturday (Washington time) tracked down the co-owner of the car in which two sniper suspects were arrested, while people in and around Washington enjoyed their first weekend free of fear since the random killings began nearly a month ago.

Nathaniel Osbourne was arrested in the early hours of Saturday in Flint, Michigan, and was being held as a material witness in the case, FBI spokeswoman Debbie Weierman said. He is believed to have helped the suspects purchase the New Jersey-registered Chevrolet Caprice.

"Mr Osbourne is not a subject of the investigation but we believe he can provide law enforcement officials with valuable information," she said.

As authorities gathered evidence against suspects John Allen Muhammad and his companion, John Lee Malvo, competition emerged over where they should be tried first. Montgomery County, Maryland, State Attorney Douglas Gansler staked his claim first, noting that six of the 10 killings occurred in that jurisdiction.

"The sentiment by most people is that Montgomery County was disproportionately affected in this case," he told MSNBC. "We're the best positioned to seek and get the appropriate punishment."

Maryland late on Friday was the first to charge Muhammad, a 41-year-old Gulf War veteran, and Malvo, 17, with six counts of first-degree murder in the sniper case.

Gansler has said he is confident the case is eligible for the death penalty in Maryland.

Officials from Virginia, where three people died, also said the death penalty was warranted in the shooting rampage that also wounded three in the region.

Seven jurisdictions around Washington -- two Maryland counties, four Virginia counties and the District of Columbia -- could try the case, in addition to possible federal charges.

Both suspects were arrested on Thursday after one of the biggest manhunts in United States history. Authorities have confirmed that a gun found in the suspects' car matched bullets used in most of the shootings.

As the sniper case moved toward the courtroom, children returned to the outdoor football and soccer fields after weeks of virtual confinement in schools and homes. People ran errands and enjoyed the emerging autumn colours without fear for the first time since October 2, when the shooting spree began.

"There was a flood of emotions on the field and in the stands today," said Tom Robinson Jr of the football game between John F Kennedy and Albert Einstein high schools, played in Silver Spring, Maryland, the town at the centre of the sniper's rampage.

"We're beginning to look back and consider the impact of what happened, and we're so thankful to God this helpless feeling of terror has been lifted from the community."

Also in Silver Spring, Conrad Johnson, the bus driver who became the sniper's 13th and final victim on Tuesday, was honoured on Saturday afternoon with a bus convoy by fellow drivers. He was to be buried later in the day.

At Fern Street Gourmet in Alexandria, Virginia, owner Geoff Romine said his customers expressed relief that they could go about living normally as soon as they heard that police had were convinced they had caught the sniper. By Saturday, everyone seemed unusually relaxed.

"It's as if people are happy to be alive again," Romine said. "I personally can't wait to go out and look at the leaves and go down to a field and watch the kids play soccer."

The series of seemingly random long-distance shootings in Washington's suburbs chilled residents and made people wary of even the most mundane outdoor chores -- pumping gasoline or shopping -- because victims were gunned down as they performed such tasks. All of the victims were felled by a single shot.

Beyond the six killings that occurred in Montgomery County and the three in Virginia, one person died in Washington. Of the three people critically injured, two were in Virginia and one was in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Both Maryland and Virginia can impose the death penalty, though there is currently a moratorium on its use in Maryland, and it is not used in cases involving juveniles.

However, Maryland Governor Parris Glendening has said this case was horrendous enough that the death penalty was possible.

Muhammad and Malvo were arrested early on Thursday as they slept in their car at a highway rest stop in rural Maryland.

They were also linked to the death of a woman during a September 21 robbery in Montgomery, Alabama. Authorities there said they would file murder charges and seek the death penalty for both suspects.

- REUTERS

- INDEPENDENT, additional reporting from AGENCIES

Further reading:
The Washington sniper

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