Washington sniper mastermind to be sentenced

A judge will decide today whether convicted sniper mastermind John Muhammad should die for his role in the October 2002 killing spree that left 10 people dead in the Washington DC area.

A Virginia jury recommended in November that Muhammad be sentenced to death for the murder of Dean Meyers at a petrol station near Manassas, one of 13 shootings that terrorised the region during a three-week span.

Circuit Judge LeRoy Millette has the option of reducing that sentence to life in prison without parole when Muhammad is formally sentenced today.

Defence motions filed on Friday urge leniency, citing Muhammad’s lack of a previous criminal background, the effect of an execution on his children and the general sanctity of human life.

“We do a disservice to our children when we kill,” wrote defence lawyers Jonathan Shapiro and Peter Greenspun. ”Whether sanctioned by the state or not, killing is killing.”

Defence lawyers also argue that life in prison is a more appropriate sentence, given that a jury recommended the lesser punishment for Muhammad’s partner, Lee Malvo.

Malvo is to be formally sentenced tomorrow in Chesapeake. In Virginia, judges can accept a jury’s sentence recommendation or reduce it, but cannot increase it.

Muhammad’s defence also wants to limit victim-impact testimony today to the Meyers family.

Prosecutor Paul Ebert said yesterday he wanted other families who lost loved ones during the killing spree to testify.

During the trial, the judge limited victim-impact testimony to the Meyers family.