Jury recommends death for US sniper Muhammad

7.00am

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The jury that convicted Washington-area sniper John Muhammad of murder has recommended he be sentenced to death for one of 10 fatal shootings that terrorised the United States capital last year.

Muhammad stood impassively in front of the jury as the ruling was read out, his hands clasped in front of him. He later shook hands with his attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, before being led away.

The panel of seven women and five men recommended two death sentences for Muhammad, who was portrayed in court as the mastermind behind a series of 13 sniper-style shootings, and the trainer of his alleged teenage accomplice, Lee Malvo.

Muhammad, a 42-year-old Gulf War veteran, was found guilty of two murder counts, conspiracy and a weapons charge on November 17 in the death of Dean Meyers, a Maryland man gunned down at a gas station on October 9, 2002, near Manassas, Virginia.

Virginia law allows two capital murder charges in the case of a single death and Muhammad was convicted of two such death-penalty charges. One involved the question of multiple murder, in which Muhammad was found guilty of killing Meyers within three years of committing another slaying.

The other involved committing murder as an act of terrorism, part of Virginia's anti-terrorism law, enacted after the September 11, 2001, hijack attacks.

In finding that he deserved the death penalty, jurors agreed that his crimes were sufficiently vile that they showed the actions of a depraved mind, and they also unanimously found he would be a future danger to society if not put to death.

Jury foreman Jerry Haggerty said the panel was most swayed by "the collective nature of the crimes."

"The vileness and violence was there across the board, and the lack of remorse," Haggerty told reporters after court recessed.

Judge LeRoy Millette tentatively set formal sentencing for February 12 to allow time for any post-trial motions.

The jury's findings came as prosecutors in Malvo's trial were set to wrap up their case in nearby Chesapeake, Virginia, in a separate murder stemming from the October 2002 spree.

Muhammad and Malvo each were charged with one murder in the series of 10 seemingly random sniper-style killings that spread fear in the Washington area in last fall.

Attorneys for Malvo, who was 17 when the crimes were committed, plan to argue the teenager was brainwashed by Muhammad. He is being tried as an adult in nearby Chesapeake, Virginia, and also faces a possible death sentence.

Both trials were moved 320km from the Washington area to southeastern Virginia in search of unbiased juries. Members of both panels have indicated they were aware of the shootings, but said they could make up their minds based only on trial evidence.

- REUTERS