Woman killed during robbery died from rifle shot, trial told

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.

The day after a courthouse power failure halted the proceedings, the trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad resumed with testimony that could indicate that Muhammad himself fired the fatal shot in the Alabama case.

Emily Ward, a medical examiner with the state of Alabama, testified that Claudine Parker, 52, died after being shot in the back. Parker was killed during a robbery on September 21, 2002, in Montgomery, Alabama.

The bullet broke through Ms Parker’s spinal cord and created a “snowstorm effect” as bullet fragments broke off in her body, and it was likely fired from a high-powered rifle, Ms Ward said.

“We also saw the same snowstorm effect” in the bullet that wounded co-worker Kellie Adams, 24, who survived, Ms Ward testified.

Evidence of a rifle would bolster a theory that Muhammad fired the fatal shot in that case, rather than fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo. Witnesses on Wednesday said they saw Malvo carrying a handgun as he robbed the women. Adams testified she never heard the shot that hit her.

Evidence in most of the sniper shootings has suggested that Malvo was the triggerman.

Muhammad is being tried on capital murder charges in the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a Virginia gasoline station during a spree last October that left 10 people dead.

On Wednesday, Muhammad gave up acting as his own attorney and rehired his court-appointed lawyers. Muhammad had demanded to represent himself just before opening statements on Monday.

In another development, a Fairfax judge rejected a prosecution request to delay Malvo’s trial, which is due to start next month.

“This really is almost an unstoppable train at this point,” said Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush.