US sniper suspect enters not guilty pleas

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.

John Allen Muhammad denied capital murder and firearms charges.

He initially remained silent when asked a routine question by Circuit Judge Roy Millette Jr, but later answered after whispering with alawyer.

Muhammad, wearing a white button-down shirt and tie, told Millette he understood the charges and that he was ready for the trial.

“I’m prepared for it, yes,” he said.

Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, are charged with a spree of 13 shootings, including 10 deaths, over three weeks last October that left many Washington area residents ducking for cover as they filled gas tanks and ran errands.

The case, which is expected to last up to six weeks, was moved some 200 miles out of metropolitan Washington to Virginia Beach after defence lawyers argued that every resident of northern Virginia could be considered a victim because the shootings made them afraid.

Even so, some legal experts have said it will be difficult to select impartial jurors from a community where people may still have felt vulnerable as the attacks mounted.

About 120 potential jurors were to be asked to fill out a lengthy questionnaire.

Millette ordered that prospective jurors be questioned individually about such sensitive issues as their views on the death penalty, their knowledge of the case and whether they or their family felt terrorised during the spree.

Muhammad faces two counts of capital murder for the shooting of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, while he filled his car with petrol near Manassas on October 9, 2002.

One charge is under an anti-terrorism law passed by the state legislature after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The other capital charge alleges multiple murders over three years. Prosecutors will have to prove Muhammad’s involvement in the Meyers killing and at least one other fatal shooting to obtain a conviction under that count.

Malvo goes on trial on November 10 in neighbouring Chesapeake for a fatal shooting last October in Fairfax County. His lawyers intend to pursue an insanity defence, saying Muhammad had so indoctrinated his young companion that Malvo could no longer tell right from wrong.