Jury recommends death for US sniper

A jury today recommended that John Allen Muhammad should be executed for masterminding the sniper attacks that terrorised the Washington area.

Jurors sent word they had reached a decision after deliberating for five hours over two days.

The judge can reduce the recommendation to life imprisonment without parole.

Muhammad, a 42-year-old former US soldier, was convicted of murder a week ago in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Virginia judges rarely ignore a jury’s recommendation.

The jury concluded that prosecutors proved at least one of two aggravating factors allowing the death penalty: that Muhammad would pose a danger in the future or that his crimes were wantonly vile.