Teen sniper Malvo avoids death penalty

Teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo struck a deal today in which he avoided the death penalty and was sentenced instead to life without parole for the second of 10 killings that terrorised the Washington area in October 2002.

Malvo, 19, is already serving a life sentence for one of the killings.

Today he was sentenced in Spotsylvania, Virginia, for the killing of Philadelphia businessman Kenneth Bridges.

Malvo entered what is called an Alford plea, in which he admitted that the government had enough evidence to convict him.

Last year Malvo was convicted but spared the death penalty for the murder of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, who was gunned down in a car park.

Malvo’s lawyers agreed to drop all appeals connected to the Franklin case as part of the deal covering the Bridges killing.

Still, Malvo could face the death penalty elsewhere in Virginia, as well as in Alabama and Louisiana. His partner in crime, John Allen Muhammad, was sentenced to death.