Sentenced to Death

James Joyner · Tuesday, March 9, 2004 · 2 Comments

As expected: Sniper Killer Muhammad Sentenced to Death

Sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death Tuesday by a judge who called the Washington-area shootings that left 10 people dead “so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension.”

Muhammad denied any involvement in the October 2002 rampage, echoing a claim of innocence he made in his opening statement to the jury when he briefly served as his own attorney.

“Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I’ll say again, I had nothing to do with this,” Muhammad said Tuesday.

He told the judge he plans to appeal, and urged, “Don’t make a fool of the Constitution of the United States of America.”

His accomplice, Malvo, was a teenager and got a bit of sympathy. There wasn’t much room for that in this instance.

FILED UNDER: Law and the Courts

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About James Joyner
James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. Follow James on Twitter.

Comments

McGehee says:

Tuesday, March 9, 2004 at 16:27

A net gain for humanity, I’d say.

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Jalal Abu Jarhead says:

Tuesday, March 9, 2004 at 23:24

As a native Texan and a current resident of Virginia…well, you can imagine my opinion of the death penalty.

I just wish the October 14th date for Muhammad’s execution would stand. Alas, there’s not much hope for that.

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