Washington sniper convicted in six more killings

WASHINGTON - John Allen Muhammad, already sentenced to death in Virginia for a sniping spree that terrorized the Washington area in 2002, was convicted of murder in the neighbouring state of Maryland today.

A spokesman for the Maryland state's attorney, John McLane, said a jury found Muhammad guilty on all six counts of murder brought against him.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo used a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice, with a modified rear to allow sniper shots to be fired through a hole in the trunk, choosing victims at random at gas stations, outside shopping malls and elsewhere.

Virginia had already sentenced Muhammad to death for one murder there during the October 2002 shootings, in which 10 people were killed and three were wounded.

Malvo, now 21, has pleaded guilty and testified against Muhammad, whom he had once considered a father figure. Malvo has been sentenced to life in prison in Virginia.

- REUTERS