Washington sniper to be executed ahead of appeal decision

WASHINGTON sniper John Allen Muhammad, who killed 10 people in a 2002 shooting spree around the US capital, was due to be put to death this morning after the nation’s top court denied a stay of execution.

Muhammad’s lawyers had appealed for the US Supreme Court to delay the execution while it examined a plea on whether his sentence was constitutional.

“The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to the chief justice and by him referred to the court is denied,” a Supreme Court ruling said.