"A senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said discussions continued Monday on whether the federal government would bring its own charges. The overriding concern, the official said, is to ensure that a swift, certain death penalty is available if either defendant is convicted. " If they want to ensure a swift, certain death penalty for these shitwads, put 'em in general population. I guarantee, every prisoner in the place would be sharpening his shiv to see who could be the first to stick 'em. These assholes shot a kid. I'd give them five hours, tops. God, cheeto's are good when youve got the munchies, but I hear that last bag of beef jerky calling me. That's the bag I offered to save for my brother. Now you can see my dilema. I know it's wrong to tell your brother you'll save him a bag, and then eat it, but I'm afraid the munchies cannot be denied so, "Sorry bro, but that shit was too good to be wasted on you; here, have some Cheetos", man I gotta open that bag.
I do THINK they have the right ones, but I would have to check further before i would be certain. I do agree that if they are proven to be the ones then death should be done.. I do believe an eye for an eye...
"An eye for an eye and a limb for a limb leaves us all blind and crippled." Or something like that... If these are the people responsible they should be punished to the full extent of the law, short of killing them. I stand firm in my belief that death is a pitiful punishment only good for societies who are unwilling to deal with their problems. Just more people the government is going to kill in my name.
U.S. intervenes in sniper case U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announces the filing of a criminal complaint against sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad. Oct. 29 -- Tacoma, Wash., police say they have evidence linking the Washington, D.C., sniper suspects to a slaying and a shooting last spring. NBC's Pete Williams reports. NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES GREENBELT, Md., Oct. 29 — Stepping into the dispute over where two sniper suspects will be tried, the federal government filed a criminal complaint Tuesday charging John Allen Muhammad in the deaths of seven people, accusations that could subject the former Army sergeant to the death penalty. Authorities also disclosed evidence found in the suspects’ car after their arrest last week, including a glove matching one at the scene of one of the 13 shootings attributed to the suspects. • Shop at B&N.com • Auctions at uBid • Yellow Pages • Personals Channel • Professional Tips • MSN Broadband Should the Feds take over the prosecution of the sniper case? Yes No Vote to see results Should the Feds take over the prosecution of the sniper case? * 55328 responses Yes 65% No 35% Survey results tallied every 60 seconds. Live Votes reflect respondents' views and are not scientifically valid surveys. MUHAMMAD, 41, WAS CHARGED in a 20-count criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., in Prince George’s County, by prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio’s office. During a brief hearing, Muhammad said he understood the charges against him and was not on drugs. His next court appearance, a detention hearing, was scheduled for Nov. 5. The charging complaint did not name the second suspect, 17-year-old John Lee Malvo, and it was not clear whether he, too, had been charged. Officials and courts are barred by federal law from discussing or revealing any charges against a juvenile. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the charges would make Muhammad eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted of what he termed “an atrocity.” “I believe the ultimate sanction ought to be available here,” he said in announcing the complaint at the Justice Department. CAUTION AGAINST RUSH TO JUDGMENT Muhammad’s lead attorney, public defender Jim Wyde, urged the public to withhold judgment until all the evidence is heard. Read the complaint • 20 counts filed against John Muhammad “Mr. Muhammad is a 41-year-old father,” said Wyde. “He was an American who served in the Persian Gulf. He was honorably discharged. He has never been convicted of another crime at any time, anywhere.” The main death penalty charge against Muhammad is use of a firearm on multiple occasions that resulted in death. Although there were 13 shootings that claimed 10 lives, the federal complaint names only seven victims — six killed in Montgomery County, Md., and one person murdered in Washington, D.C. A senior Justice Department official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the Virginia cases were omitted “out of an abundance of caution” because of that state’s unique laws regarding double jeopardy — that is, being tried twice for the same crime. Federal charges stemming from those cases could be added later, the official said. Newsweek: Muhammad's transformation Muhammad also was charged under the Hobbs Act, which allows a capital murder charge when a killing includes extortion and interstate commerce is interrupted. A note believed left by the sniper at the scene of a Virginia shooting demanded $10 million. Interstate commerce was interrupted by, among other things, traffic jams created as police searched for the killer. Other charges include interstate transportation in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm in a school zone. TRIAL VENUE REMAINS UNCLEAR The federal charges do not necessarily mean that federal prosecutors will hold the first trial, though they have that option. Negotiations about the schedule for trials will continue with the states, Justice Department officials said. A recent photograph of John A. Muhammad, right, and John Lee Malvo Muhammad and Malvo also face murder charges in Maryland, Virginia and Alabama in connection with the sniper shootings that terrorized the greater Washington, D.C., area for three weeks beginning Oct. 2 and a failed liquor store robbery in Montgomery, Ala., on Sept. 21 that left a woman dead. Both could face execution in Virginia and Alabama, while Maryland law would bar capital punishment for Malvo because he is a minor. In an affidavit accompanying the complaint, federal agents detailed a wealth of evidence they said was recovered when Muhammad and Malvo were arrested last week at a Maryland rest stop: The Bushmaster .223 rifle that police have linked to some of the sniper killings; a brown cotton glove matching a glove found at one of the shooting scenes; two “shooting mittens”; a green military backpack containing a global positioning system transceiver; a single .223 round of ammunition; two boxes of Winchester .338 ammunition; a Sony laptop computer; boltcutters; a two-way radio; and a wallet containing several driver’s licenses issued under different names but all bearing Muhammad’s photo. TAROT CARD, EXTORTION NOTE LINKED Advertisement The affidavit also confirms recovery of a tarot card with a handwritten note after the Oct. 7 shooting outside a school in Bowie, Md. A second, longer note demanding $10 million was found after an Oct. 19 shooting in Ashland, Va. The handwriting appears to be by the same person, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also quotes a person who knew both suspects in Tacoma, Wash., where Muhammad and Malvo lived for a time, as saying that Muhammad frequently “referred to his associate as sniper” and was seen during the past six months with a rifle similar to the Bushmaster. Word of the new charges came after police in Tacoma, Wash., announced that Mohammed and Malvo are now suspects in a slaying and a shooting at a synagogue there. Police officials on Monday announced they had linked Muhammad and Malvo to the February shooting death of a 21-year-old woman whose aunt once worked at Muhammad’s defunct auto repair business. Police also identified the pair as suspects in a May shooting at a Tacoma synagogue in which no one was injured. MAN SAYS HE LOANED GUNS The connection to Muhammad and Malvo is based on information from a Tacoma man who came forward last week and told authorities he loaned the pair his guns. Ballistics tests matched the weapons to slugs found at both shooting scenes. Tacoma Police Chief David Brame said the man told authorities he’d allowed Muhammad and Malvo to borrow his weapons - a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a .44-caliber Magnum - while the pair were staying with him earlier this year. Death penalty provisions in jurisdictions involved in the sniper shootings: | 1 | 2 MARYLAND State law requires that one of 10 specific circumstances be met for the death penalty to apply. The criterion that might apply: If a defendant commits more than one murder arising out of the same incident. Prosecutors say the case meets that standard because on Oct. 3 four people were killed between 7:41 a.m. and 9:58 a.m. in Montgomery County. They say a moratorium on executions imposed by the governor will soon be lifted. Maryland law sets a minimum age of 18 for the death penalty, which would rule out its use against John Lee Malvo, believed to be 17. VIRGINIA State has broader statute for death penalty, including provisions allowing for execution of killers who commit more than one murder in three years and those with the “intent to intimidate the civilian population at large.” Both could apply in the sniper case. Virginia has executed 86 people since 1982, a total second only to Texas. Unlike Maryland, a 17-year-old would be eligible for the death penalty. WASHINGTON, D.C. No death penalty. | 1 | 2 ALABAMA State law would not require prosecutors to prove which suspect was the triggerman in the killing of a woman outside a Montgomery liquor store. A 17-year-old would be eligible for the death penalty. FEDERAL Prosecutors would have to bring conspiracy charges carrying the death penalty. For instance, the Hobbs Act allows the government to seek death in murders where killers try to extort money. Police said two letters left during the attacks demanded $10 million. Source: The Associated Press Printable version “As a result, we now consider John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo as suspects in the Keenya Cook homicide,” Brame said. Authorities said there were no plans to charge the man who came forward. Cook was shot in the face with a .45-caliber pistol on Feb. 16 when she opened the door to the house where she lived. CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY? Cook’s aunt, Isa Nichols, used to be a bookkeeper for Muhammad’s auto repair business in the 1990s. Nichols became friends with Muhammad and his then-wife, Mildred, and sided with Mildred during that couple’s bitter divorce and child-custody dispute. Local related stories • WRC Washington shootings coverage • Seattle: Muhammad, Malvo linked to crimes here • Philadelphia: Alabama seeks Osbourne meeting Cook had moved into Nichols’ home in the fall of 2001 for protection from an abusive boyfriend. Members of Cook’s family wondered if Isa Nichols may have been the intended target and Cook could have been shot by mistake when she opened the door. In the synagogue case, Brame said the .44-caliber Magnum was used in a shooting at Temple Beth El between May 1 and May 4. No one was believed at the synagogue at the time. One shot struck an outer wall. The other lodged in an interior wall where religious scrolls are kept. The scrolls were not damaged. Federal agents also believe Muhammad bought the rifle that was used in the sniper attacks at a Tacoma gun shop, though the shop’s owner has not yet been able to produce records that would show who bought it. Full coverage of the sniper case Investigators are following leads in the Caribbean nation of Antigua, where Muhammad and Malvo apparently met sometime after March 2000. The Washington Post on Monday quoted Kithlyn Nedd, a mechanic on Antigua who said he shared a house with Muhammad, as saying that Muhammad made money by selling fraudulent documents to people who wanted to enter the United States. Among his customers, Nedd said, was Malvo’s mother, Una James, a Jamaican woman living in Antigua at the time.
Here is more information on the sniper deal. If the information is true then we know who the sniper is. like critter said.. I hope these guys are not escape goats!