John Allen Muhammad was today sentenced to six consecutive life sentences for the October 2002 killings of six people during a sniper shooting spree that terrorised the Washington, DC region.

John Allen Muhammad’s conviction for six more murders in the spree of US sniper shootings in the Washington area gives prosecutors the insurance they sought – that there is little chance he will leave prison alive.

WASHINGTON sniper John Allen Muhammad was convicted of six more of the killings yesterday after a trial in which he acted as his own attorney and the prosecution’s star witness was his young protege and partner in crime.

Jurors were expected to begin deliberations today in the second US trial of a man already convicted for one of the 2002 sniper shootings that spread panic throughout the Washington area.

John Allen Muhammad aggressively questioned his former sniper protégé Lee Boyd Malvo today and kept referring to the young man testifying against him as “son”.

Lee Boyd Malvo testified in Rockville, Maryland, today that his former partner and father figure, John Allen Muhammad, told him before the 2002 sniper attacks that panicked the region around America’s capital for weeks, “We’re going to terrorise this nation".

Lee Boyd Malvo is expected to take the stand in Rockville, Maryland, on Monday to testify against John Allen Muhammad, his former mentor and alleged accomplice in the October 2002 Washington area sniper shootings trial.

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad’s hunger strike appears to have ended, his attorney said.

Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo struck a deal today in which he avoided the death penalty and was sentenced instead to life without parole for the second of 10 killings that terrorised the Washington area in October 2002.

Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was jailed for life without parole today for his role in the Washington area killing spree that left 10 people dead.

A JUDGE rejected John Allen Muhammad's insistence of innocence and sentenced him to death, saying his actions in the Washington-area sniper shootings that left 10 people dead were "so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension".

Sniper John Allen Muhammad has been sentenced to death for his role in the October 2002 killing spree that left 10 people dead in the Washington DC area.

The jury in the Washington sniper case today spared teenager Lee Boyd Malvo from the death penalty – the fate which awaits his mentor John Allen Muhammad.

A jury convicted Lee Boyd Malvo of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper attacks today, rejecting claims that the teenager was brainwashed by John Allen Muhammad into taking part in the three-week reign of terror that left 10 people dead.

Lee Boyd Malvo was legally insane during last year’s sniper spree because of intense indoctrination by sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad, a defence psychiatrist testified at Malvo’s trial in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Pupils at an US school were confined to their classrooms today amid fears that a new sniper is on the loose.

FEARS that another sniper was on the loose in America were fuelled yesterday after police said 10 motorists had reported being fired at on a stretch of road where a woman was shot dead.

Fears that another sniper was on the loose in America were fuelled today after police said 10 motorists had reported being fired at on a stretch of road where a woman was shot dead.

A US jury recommended yesterday that John Allen Muhammad should be executed for masterminding the deadly sniper attacks that terrorised the Washington area for three weeks last autumn.

A US jury recommended today that John Allen Muhammad should be executed for masterminding the deadly sniper attacks that terrorised the Washington area for three weeks last autumn.

“I INTENDED to kill them all.”

John Allen Muhammad faces the death penalty after a jury today decided he was one of the Washington area snipers.

A teenager accused of being one of the Washington snipers went on trial for his life today.

A woman killed outside an Alabama liquor store the month before the Washington-area sniper spree probably died from a shot from a high-powered rifle, a witness testified yesterday.

Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad changed his mind today and stopped acting as his own lawyer at his trial after only one day of cross-examining witnesses.

SNIPER suspect John Allen Muhammad yesterday withdrew a request that might have allowed him introduce mental health evidence at his trial.

Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad withdrew a request today that might have allowed him to introduce mental health evidence at sentencing to persuade a jury to spare his life.

SNIPER suspect John Allen Muhammad won a surprise request yesterday to represent himself at trial and delivered a rambling opening statement in which he quoted Jesus and spoke about the meaning of truth.

A judge today granted sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad’s surprise request to represent himself in his trial.

A 42-year-old man entered not guilty pleas today at the beginning of a trial over the killing of 10 people during a three-week reign of terror in and around Washington last year.

People in West Virginia are “watching their backs” as the probe continues today into three shootings, feared to be Washington sniper copycat killings.

FEAR stalked West Virginia yesterday after three people were shot dead by a suspected sniper in attacks eerily reminiscent of the killing spree that terrorised the Washington area last year.

West Virginia police are hunting a suspected sniper after three people were shot dead in attacks eerily reminiscent of the killings that terrorised the Washington area last year.

One of the two suspects in last year's Washington area sniper shootings told a prison guard that he shot a teenage boy to anger the police chief heading the investigation, the guard has told a court.

A JUDGE yesterday ordered a change of venue for the trial of sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, moving the case from Fairfax County to Chesapeake, 200 miles to the south.

Teenage sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo implicated his alleged accomplice as an equal partner in their shooting spree, with John Allen Muhammad acting as a spotter and calling out shots, prosecutors said.

A US grand jury has indicted 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo on two counts of capital murder in last year’s sniper shootings, setting the stage for a death penalty trial.

By James Bob Caldwell IT now seems clear that what motivated John Muhammad, and Lee Boyd Malvo was money - $10m (€10.2m) in fact.