Washington sniper could get death sentence

8.00am - By DEBORAH ZABARENKO

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia. - John Muhammad has been found guilty of murder, conspiracy and a weapons charge in one of 10 sniper killings that terrorised the Washington, DC, area last year. He could get the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Muhammad, a 42-year-old Gulf War veteran, stood on Monday (Washington time) as the verdicts were read after six and a half hours of deliberations, then sat impassively at the defence table in this seaside community, leaning his chin against his hand, as the jury was polled.

The same jury was set to return later on Monday to begin considering Muhammad's punishment. The only possibilities are execution or life without parole.

Muhammad was convicted on all charges -- two capital murder counts, a charge of conspiracy and one of using a firearm in committing a felony -- in the death of Dean Meyers, who was gunned down on Oct. 9, 2002, outside Manassas, Virginia.

Each of the capital murder counts carries its own possibility of a death sentence or a life prison term. The jury must also decide Muhammad's sentence on the conspiracy count, which could bring a prison term of 10 years and a fine of up to $100,000. They will not decide the penalty on the weapons charge, which carries a mandatory three-year prison sentence.

One capital murder conviction found that Muhammad committed multiple murders, including Meyers plus one other person within a three-year period. The other murder charge found that Muhammad committed murder as an act of terrorism, a violation of Virginia's new anti-terror law, enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In the course of Muhammad's month-long trial, prosecutors led the jury on a tour of the sniper shootings that gripped the area in and around the US capital for 23 days last October. Thirteen seemingly random shootings, including 10 killings, created a climate of fear that pervaded Washington and its suburbs in Virginia and Maryland.

Some of the hundreds of exhibits presented at Muhammad's trial -- including a .223 Bushmaster rifle that was a prominent fixture in the courtroom -- are going to be used by prosecutors in the trial of Muhammad's 18-year-old alleged accomplice, Lee Malvo, in neighboring Chesapeake, Virginia.

Malvo, who was 17 when the crimes were committed, is being tried as an adult and could also face the death penalty.

Even before the jurors reached their decision in Muhammad's case, lawyers for both sides wrangled over what may be presented in the next phase of the trial.

Judge LeRoy Millette ruled that prosecutors can bring in information about an escape attempt they say Muhammad made during his incarceration in Prince William County, Virginia, so they can argue this gives a clue to what kind of prisoner he might be if given a life prison sentence.

Prosecutors will be barred from bringing in victims or their families to testify during the penalty phase, except for relatives of Meyers.

Prosecutors have portrayed Muhammad as a controlling, cold-blooded killer who molded Malvo into an expert sniper and then worked with him to create the climate of fear.

Muhammad's lawyers noted the circumstantial nature of the prosecution case, and questioned the authority of expert witnesses who testified about sniper technique and ballistic evidence linking Muhammad to the murder weapon.

Both trials were moved some 200 miles southeast of Washington's Virginia suburbs in search of unbiased juries.

- REUTERS