Washington sniper trial moved as defence argues jury pool is tainted

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.

Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush said she feared Malvo wouldn't be able to get a fair trial in the Washington DC suburbs, where the sniper attacks terrorised residents over a three-week period last fall.

Defence argued that massive pretrial publicity had tainted the jury pool against their client, and they said every resident of Fairfax County could be considered a victim, considering the wave of fear that gripped the region.

Ten people, all apparently targeted at random, were killed in the Washington area in what prosecutors have said was a scheme to extort $10 million from the government.

In all, 18-year-old Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, 42, have been linked to 20 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C.