Prosecutor says only teen's fingerprints found on sniper rifle

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Seventeen-year-old John Lee Malvo's fingerprints were the only ones found on the rifle used in the sniper attacks, a prosecutor said Friday as authorities linked another Maryland shooting to the two suspects.

Nearly a month before last month's deadly spree began in the Washington area, a man was shot six times at close range as he locked up his restaurant in suburban Clinton, Md. Paul LaRuffa, 55, survived.

"We're confident we have a match between the shooting on Sept. 5 and the snipers," said Capt. Andy Ellis of the Prince George's County police department. He refused to discuss evidence.

LaRuffa's assailant took his laptop computer. Law enforcement sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the laptop stolen in the Sept. 5 shooting was the same one found in Muhammad and Malvo's car.

LaRuffa said Friday he is glad the suspected snipers are being prosecuted and added he's recovering "really well" from his wounds.

Accused of shooting 19

Malvo and John Allen Muhammad have now been accused of shooting 19 people, killing 13 of them, in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Two other shootings, in Washington state, are under investigation.

Federal authorities have given Virginia prosecutors the first trial against the suspects, saying the state has the best chance of obtaining the death penalty. No trial has been scheduled.

At the teenager's initial court appearance in Virginia, Fairfax County prosecutor Robert F. Horan Jr. said eyewitnesses had spotted Malvo at three of the fatal crime scenes. The teen was ordered held without bail.

A few miles away, Muhammad, 41, made his first appearance in a Virginia court, and a judge said he would appoint a lawyer for him.

Horan would not discuss evidence in detail, but he said after the hearing that only Malvo's fingerprints were found on the .223-caliber rifle authorities believe was used in the killing spree. The gun was found in the men's car after their arrest Oct. 24.

Will plead innocent

Malvo's court-appointed attorney, Michael Arif, dismissed the importance of the fingerprints. He said Malvo, who faces two counts of capital murder and a firearms charge, will plead innocent.

Arif complained that police questioned Malvo for nearly eight hours Thursday without a lawyer present. He said he would ask a judge to toss out any inappropriate statements Malvo may have made.

"I'm not at all comfortable with a 17-year-old being in police custody for that long without representation," he said.

Horan said FBI agents are trying to find Malvo's mother, who they believe now lives in Bellingham, Wash.