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May 25, 2006

US: Black Muslim Sniper Conducts His Own Defense

In news from Yahoo, the Telegraph, and the Guardian, the former member of the Nation of Islam, John Allen Muhammad, is currently on trial in Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, accused of murder.

Muhammad had served in the Gulf War in 1990, and trained as a driver, mechanic, truck driver and metalworker. He had become an expert in using the M16 rifle. Born John Allen WIlliams, he changed his name to Muhammad in October 2001. He had been divorced twice. Though a member of the Nation of Islam, Lois Farrakhan has disassociated himself from Muhammad.

Muhammad has already been convicted for murder. He was sentenced to death in Virginia on 24 November 2003. With his protege, Lee Boyd Malvo, Muhammad had organised a shooting spree which lasted for three weeks at the start of 2002, while America was still in shock after the events of 9/11. By the time the pair were arrested, 10 people were dead, and three injured.

Muhammad had been sentenced to death for the murder of Dean Myers, who was shot as he filled his car at a gas station in a Virginia suburb. The lead prosecutor then, Paul Ebert, had said: "That's the kind of man who doesn't deserve to be in society." Ebert claimed that Muhammad took pleasure in killing.

Now, Muhammad is on trial in Maryland, charged with six killings which took place in and around Washington. Muhammad and Malvo are suspected of earlier shootings in Maryland, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington state.

And on the first day of his defense yesterday, Muhammad turned the event into a shouting match. Prosecutors had previously finished grilling Muhammad's young protege, Lee Boyd Malvo. On Tuesday, Malvo said that Muhammad had planned to "terrorise" America with shootings, followed by bomb attacks upon schools and hospitals.

Jamaican Malvo had been 17 when the pair drove around in a Chevrolet Caprice, firing at victims with a .223 calibre rifle through a hole cut into the rear bodywork of the vehicle. Their reign of terror came to an end on October 24, 2002, when they were arrested, sleeping in their car in a roadside rest area.

Malvo spoke of the bizarre relationship he had with the elder man, who is now 45. He claimed that he had met Muhammad in May 2000, and that the older man "basically took me under his wing". Soon after that, "He began introducing me as his son."

The prosecutor Katherine Winfree asked Malvo "Did you come to love Mr Muhammad?" Malvo had replied, "Yes".

"Did you tell him that?" the prosecutor asked. "Yes," Malvo had replied. When the prosecutor asked how he felt about Muhammad now, Malvo had said: "I think he is a coward."

Malvo then looked at Muhammad and spoke to him directly, saying: "You took me into your house and made me a monster."

Malvo said after his arrest that he had carried out most of the shootings, but later claimed that Muhammad had been wielding the rifle in most of the attacks.

Malvo had been sentenced to death in Virginia in December 2003, but a few days later, this had been changed to a life sentence.

But yesterday, as Muhammad conducted his own defense, there was obvious tension between the two individuals. Muhammad placed three eyewitnesses on the stand. One woman said to police at the time that she had seen a man jump over a fence and flee after one attack, but had not said that the man was black. Muhammad wanted the witness to be treated as hostile, a request which was denied. Muhammad claimed that police had influenced the woman's testimony, and shouting erupted between him, prosecutors, and his advisory lawyers.

Another witness said she saw a white truck leave a shooting scene, and Muhammad (who had a white car) used this as an excuse to claim his innocence.

But when Malvo was brought to testify, the tensions flared between them. Malvo had pleaded guilty by reason of insanity at his Virginia trial, and Muhammad took advantage of this. "Who decided you was insane? ... How many doctors said you was insane?" he asked.

Malvo answered: "They said I was indoctrinated."

Muhammad asked if the term "indoctrinated" could be a positive thing. Malvo repied in the affirmative. Muhammad brought up their previous "good" relationship and mentioned how Malvo had saved Muhammad's son, John Jnr, from drowning, obviously trying to manipulate the witness.

"Son, I mean Mr. Malvo, isn't it true that if the roles were turned, and Lee Boyd Malvo was in that water, that John Allen Muhammad would have got him?" Muhammad asked, but Circuit Judge James Ryan ordered Malvo not to answer.

Malvo objected to being called "son", and said: "I would prefer you address me by my name."

Malvos's testimony is incriminating. He said that Muhammad hated America because of its "slavery, hypocrisy and foreign policy". Muhammad had said to him that "the white man is the devil." He also had said to Malvo: "We are going to go to the Washington DC area and we are going to terrorise these people."

He spoke of how Muhammad had planned to go to Baltimore, after killing six whites a day for 30 days. In Baltimore, Muhammad wanted them to shoot a policeman and then blow up explosives at the funeral, with more explosives aimed at the ambulances which would then arrive. There was also a plan to kill three busloads of children.

Ultimately, Malvo testified, Muhammad wanted to brainwash 140 young homeless men in Canada, who would "shut things down" in the US unless the pair received 9 million dollars.

Malvo said that Muhammad wanted him to shoot pregnant women. At a fast-food restaurant, Malvo had one in the sights of his rifle, but said "I just couldn't take the shot."

The trial continues.

UPDATE - 30 MAY. John Allen Muhammad has today been convicted of the six murders for which he has stood accused. Sentencing will follow.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 25, 2006 3:36 PM

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