No bail for Malvo as sniper suspects appear in court
Meanwhile, Muhammad's co-defendant John Lee Malvo was ordered held without bond last night after a prosecutor said the teenager had been seen near three shooting scenes in Virginia.
Fairfax County prosecutor Robert F Horan Jr said Malvo, 17, was spotted in Fairfax, in Prince William County and near a gas station in Spotsylvania County all sites where people were shot during the October rampage.
Malvo was held without bond in an adult detention centre. Mr Horan also said Malvo tried to escape while he was in federal custody in Baltimore by breaking through a ceiling and climbing away before falling into a nearby office. The two could face the death penalty, and Mr Horan has said he will seek to try Malvo as an adult.
The hearings come a day after the two were transferred from Maryland, where they were arrested last month, to Virginia. Federal authorities said Virginia had the strongest case and best route to the "ultimate sanction."
In Prince William County, Muhammad was charged with the October 9 slaying of Dean Meyers, 53, who was shot while pumping gas in Manassas.
In a five-minute hearing yesterday, Circuit Court Judge Herman A. Whisenant Jr asked Muhammad if he wanted a court-appointed lawyer. "I thought I already had counsel," Muhammad replied in a controlled and deliberate manner, referring to a lawyer appointed earlier by the federal court.
The judge explained that Muhammad didn't have a lawyer to face the Virginia charges and again asked him if he wanted one appointed. Muhammad responded: "I don't know what to say, sir."
The judge said he will appoint a lawyer and set another hearing for next Wednesday.
Even as US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced his decision to move the case to Virginia state court, yet another crime was connected by authorities to the pair a September 21 killing in Atlanta. That brought to 18 the number of shootings linked to Muhammad, 41, and Malvo. Thirteen people were killed.
Mr Ashcroft said he sent the pair to Virginia in part because its laws allow the best opportunities to obtain the death penalty. The state allows execution of 17-year-olds and has put to death 86 people since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, more than any state except Texas. "It is appropriate it is imperative that the ultimate sanction be available for those convicted of these crimes," Mr Ashcroft said.
It probably would be months before either trial begins. Both cases will go before grand juries after preliminary court hearings. The decision to prosecute in Virginia came as the federal government dropped extortion and firearms charges that could have led to the death penalty. Those charges can be reinstated.
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