Sniper suspect convicted; jury now considers penalty

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A jury convicted John Allen Muhammad of capital murder Monday, concluding he used a rifle, a beat-up car and a teenager who idolized him to kill randomly and terrorize the Washington area during last year's sniper spree.

The jury immediately began hearing evidence on whether the 42-year-old Army veteran should get the death penalty or life in prison. The penalty phase is expected to last several days.

The jury deliberated for 6 1/2 hours before convicting Muhammad of two counts of capital murder. One count accused him of taking part in multiple murders, the other -- the result of a post-Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism law -- alleged the killings were designed to terrorize the population. Muhammad is the first person tried under the Virginia law.

Muhammad was found guilty of killing Dean Harold Meyers, a Vietnam veteran who was cut down by a single bullet that hit him in the head on Oct. 9, 2002, as he filled his tank at a Manassas gas station. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and use of a firearm in a felony.

The victim's brother, Robert, said he believes Muhammad deserves the death penalty: "I must say that I can't think of too many more heinous crimes than this one."

Fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, is on trial separately in nearby Chesapeake for the killing of Linda Franklin at a Home Depot in Falls Church. He also could get the death penalty.

19 people shot

In all, the two men were accused of shooting 19 people -- killing 13 and wounding six -- in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., in what prosecutors said was an attempt to extort $10 million from the government.

The verdict came after three weeks of testimony in which a series of victims and other witnesses graphically and often tearfully recalled the horror that gripped the Washington area during the sniper attacks.

Prosecutors presented no direct evidence that Muhammad fired the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the killings, but said it didn't matter. They described Muhammad as the "captain of a killing team" and portrayed him as Malvo's father figure, a stern and controlling man who trained the teenager to do his bidding.

"That is a young man he molded and made an instrument of death and destruction," Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said in closing arguments Thursday.

Ebert said that Muhammad came off as a polite man, but that his calm demeanor masked a calculating and sinister side: "He's the kind of man who could pat you on the back and cut your throat."

The defense said the evidence did not prove Muhammad directed the shootings or fired the gun in the Meyers slaying. Attorney Peter Greenspun said in his closing statement that prosecutors had "pounded" jurors with gory photos and heartbreaking witness testimony to persuade them to make an emotional decision.

The prosecution provided several key pieces of evidence linking Muhammad to the shootings, including testimony that his DNA was found on the rifle. Prosecutors also presented a stolen laptop discovered in his blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice that contained maps of six shooting scenes, each marked with skull-and-crossbones icons.

Prosecutors said the car had been adapted so someone concealed inside the vehicle could fire a rifle through a hole in the trunk. Ballistics tests linked the rifle found in the car to nearly all the shootings.