Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


14

Questions Remain as DC Sniper's End Looms

Number of victims a mystery; Muhammed slated to die Tuesday

Share

(AP) – It galled her to do it, but Sarah Dillon was desperate for answers, so she wrote letters to convicted snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo: If you murdered my son, please confess, she wrote. She got no reply, and as Virginia prepares to execute Muhammed on Tuesday, the most basic question remains about the 2002 DC sniper shootings: How many people did Malvo and Muhammed shoot and kill?

The three-week killing spree is well documented: Muhammad and Malvo shot 13 people at random with a high-powered rifle, from the trunk of a modified, beat-up Chevy Caprice. Ten were killed. But the pair started firing on a cross-country road trip, and Malvo, while less than reliable, has confessed to other shootings. The number of shootings may be as high as 27, though the FBI says it's "complicated." But not for Dillon, whose son was gunned down outside his Texas home: "All I'm asking for is answers," she said, "before they leave this world."

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad gestures as he address judge James L. Ryan before the start of his murder trial in Rockville, Md., in this April 28, 2006, file photo.
Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad gestures as he address judge James L. Ryan before the start of his murder trial in Rockville, Md., in this April 28, 2006, file photo.   (AP Photo/Chris Gardner, Pool)
Marion Lewis sits at his daughter Lori's gravesite on Oct. 15, 2009 in Mountain Home, Id. Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera was vacuuming cereal from her minivan Oct. 3, 2002 at a gas station when she was shot down by the DC snipers.
Marion Lewis sits at his daughter Lori's gravesite on Oct. 15, 2009 in Mountain Home, Id. Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera was vacuuming cereal from her minivan Oct. 3, 2002 at a gas station when she was shot down...   (AP Photo/Matt Cilley)
John Allen Muhammad, 48, is set to die by injection in a Virginia prison Nov. 10, 2009, seven years after he and his teenage accomplice terrorized the area in and around the nation's capital.
John Allen Muhammad, 48, is set to die by injection in a Virginia prison Nov. 10, 2009, seven years after he and his teenage accomplice terrorized the area in and around the nation's capital.   ((AP Photo/Virginia Department of Corrections))
In a March 9, 2004, file photo convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death for the shooting of Dean Meyers at the  Prince William County Circuit Court in Manassas, Va.
In a March 9, 2004, file photo convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death for the shooting of Dean Meyers at the Prince William County Circuit Court in Manassas, Va.   (STEVE HELBER)
Lee Boyd Malvo listens to court proceedings during the trial of fellow sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad in Virginia Beach, Va., in a Monday, Oct. 20, 2003 file photo.
Lee Boyd Malvo listens to court proceedings during the trial of fellow sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad in Virginia Beach, Va., in a Monday, Oct. 20, 2003 file photo.   (AP Photo/Martin Smith-Rodden, Pool, file)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
14 comments
VIEWING:
 
jeebus
Nov 8, 09 2:50 PM CST
May I suggest a good old firing squad? Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
OG_Travis
Nov 8, 09 3:39 PM CST
Seems like they might enjoy that though. I don't think they should get such an easy death...I mean if anything ship them to Afghanistan....hell they can snipe tell them they have to stay there till we find Bin Laden!
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
Newser001
Nov 8, 09 3:53 PM CST
These assholes need life, not death so they can serve their miserable lives out in shit via dolorosa - in solitary confinement; the general prison population wants them dead so they can't be mixed.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
WallyEFunk
Nov 8, 09 5:07 PM CST
YES. Death would be too easy. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
Cat-Lover
Nov 9, 09 2:51 PM CST
In cases such as this, I firmly believe the guilty should be slowly executed -- allowing an hour or so for each victim -- so that they can watch their lives draining out and remember their heinous acts in their last. long end.
Vote up! Vote down!
0
LEAVE A
COMMENT
Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Copyright 2009 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.