Lee Boyd Malvo

Lee Boyd Malvo
Background information
Also known as	John Lee Malvo, Malik Malvo
Born	February 18, 1985 (1985-02-18) (age 26) Kingston, Jamaica
Killings
Span of killings	September 5, 2002–October 23, 2002
Country	United States
State(s)	Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Washington state
Date apprehended	October 24, 2002

Lee Boyd Malvo (also known as John Lee Malvo) (born February 18, 1985), is a spree killer convicted, along with John Allen Muhammad, of mass murder in connection with the Beltway sniper attacks, which took place in the Washington Metropolitan Area over a three-week period in October 2002. According to his own confession they had planned to kill six people a day for a month in order "to terrorize the nation."^[1] The beltway attacks turned out to be only the latest of a series of shootings across the United States connected to these individuals which began on the West Coast. Muhammad had befriended the juvenile Malvo, and had enlisted him in the murderous rampage under some false pretenses and influences which are still not fully understood by authorities.^{[citation needed]} According to Craig Cooley, one of Malvo's defense attorneys, Malvo believed Muhammad when he told him that the $10 million ransom sought from the US government to stop the sniper killings would be used to establish a Utopian society for 140 black homeless children on a Canadian compound.^[2]

Joining John Allen Muhammad

Lee Boyd Malvo and his mother, Una Sceon James, first met John Allen Muhammad in Antigua and Barbuda around 1999, where Una and Muhammad developed a strong friendship. Later, Una left Antigua for Fort Myers, Florida, using false documents. She left her son with Muhammad, reportedly planning to have him follow her later. He did join his mother for a short time in 2001. Lee Malvo arrived as an illegal alien in Miami in 2001.^[3] He and his mother were apprehended by the Border Patrol in Bellingham, Washington, in December 2001. In January 2002, Malvo was released on a $1,500 bond.^[3] Malvo caught up with Muhammad soon after. In 2002, Malvo traveled to Bellingham, Washington, where he lived in a homeless shelter with Muhammad and enrolled in high school with Muhammad falsely listed as his father, but he did not make any friends according to his classmates.^[4] While in the Tacoma, Washington area, according to his statements to investigators, Malvo shoplifted the Bushmaster XM-15 from Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, a dealer for Bushmaster Firearms, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor based in Windham, Maine. About the same time, Muhammad practiced his marksmanship on the Bull's Eye firing range adjacent to the gun shop. Under federal laws, neither was legally allowed to purchase or possess guns, with both classified as prohibited persons under the Gun Control Act of 1968.^[5]

Sniper attack victims

Listed in chronological order, these are the names of the victims who were murdered or wounded in the Beltway sniper attacks.

Name	Age	Status	Date of Attack	Location
James Martin	55	Killed	October 2, 2002, 6:04 PM	Wheaton, Maryland
James Buchanan	39	Killed	October 3, 2002, 7:41 AM	Rockville, Maryland
Premkumar Walekar	54	Killed	October 3, 2002, 8:12 AM	Aspen Hill, Maryland
Sarah Ramos	34	Killed	October 3, 2002, 8:37 AM	Silver Spring, Maryland
Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera	25	Killed	October 3, 2002, 9:58 AM	Kensington, Maryland
Pascal Charlot	72	Killed	October 3, 2002, 9:20 PM	Washington, D.C.
Caroline Seawell	43	Survived	October 4, 2002, 2:30 PM	Fredericksburg, Virginia
Iran Brown	13	Survived	October 7, 2002, 8:09 AM	Bowie, Maryland
Dean Harold Meyers	53	Killed	October 9, 2002, 8:18 PM	Manassas, Virginia
Kenneth Bridges	53	Killed	October 11, 2002, 9:40 AM	Fredericksburg, Virginia
Linda Franklin	47	Killed	October 14, 2002, 9:19 PM	Falls Church, Virginia
Jeffrey Hopper	53	Survived	October 19, 2002, 8:00 PM	Ashland, Virginia
Conrad Johnson	35	Killed	October 22, 2002, 5:55 AM	Aspen Hill, Maryland

These victims have also been linked to Muhammad and Malvo:

• Keenya Cook
• Jerry Ray Taylor
• Paul La Ruffa
• Rupinder Oberoi
• Muhammad Rashid
• Million Woldemariam
• Claudine Lee Parker
• Kellie Adams
• Hong Im Ballenger
• Wright Williams, Jr.
• Billy Gene Dillon
• John Gaeta

Criminal prosecutions

Malvo was initially arrested under federal charges, but they were dropped. He was transferred to Virginia custody and sent to jail in Fairfax County. He was charged by the Commonwealth of Virginia for two capital crimes: the murder of FBI analyst Linda Franklin "in the commission of an act of terrorism" (an addendum to Virginia law that was added after the September 11, 2001, attacks), and the murder of more than one person in a three-year period. He was also charged with the unlawful use of a firearm in the murder of Franklin. Initially, a Fairfax attorney, Michael Arif, was appointed to represent him, along with Thomas B. Walsh and Mark J. Petrovich. Later, prominent Richmond attorney Craig Cooley was appointed to the team and assumed a leadership role.^[6] While in jail, he made a recorded confession to Detective Samuel Walker in which he stated that he "intended to kill them all".^[7]

Under a change of venue, the trial was moved over 150 miles away to the city of Chesapeake in southeastern Virginia. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges on the grounds that he was under Muhammad's complete control. One of Malvo's psychiatric witnesses testified that Muhammad, a member of Nation of Islam, had indoctrinated him into believing that the proceeds of the extortion attempt would be used to begin a new nation of only pure black young persons somewhere in Canada.^{[citation needed]}

During the trial, Malvo's defense attorney Craig S. Cooley said that violent video games had contributed significantly to Malvo's mind state and willingness to commit murder. Cooley said: "He's trained and desensitized with video games, computer games, to train him to shoot human forms over and over."^[8] Sociologists Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson, however, argue in their book Grand Theft Childhood that other factors were much more significant. "In court, Lee Malvo admitted that he trained by shooting a real gun at paper plates that represented human heads. Also, Malvo had a long history of antisocial and criminal behavior, including torturing small animals – one of the best predictors of future violent criminal behavior."^[9]

On December 18, 2003, after nearly 14 hours of deliberation, the jury convicted him of both charges. On December 23, a jury recommended a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Franklin. On March 10, 2004, a judge formally sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

On October 26, 2004, under a plea bargain to avoid a possible death penalty, Malvo entered an Alford plea to the charges of murdering Kenneth Bridges and attempting to murder Caroline Seawell while Malvo was in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He also pled guilty to two firearms charges and agreed not to appeal his conviction for the murder of Franklin. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder, plus eight years imprisonment for the weapons charges.

One Virginia prosecutor in Prince William County had stated he would wait to decide whether to try him on additional capital charges in his jurisdiction until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on whether juveniles may be subject to the penalty of execution. However, in light of the March 1, 2005 Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons that the Eighth Amendment prohibits execution for crimes committed when under the age of 18, the prosecutors in Prince William County have decided not to pursue the charges against Malvo. However, prosecutors in Maryland, Louisiana and Alabama were still interested in putting both Malvo and Muhammad on trial.^{[citation needed]}

As Malvo was 17 when he committed the crimes, he cannot face the death penalty, but still may be extradited to Alabama, Louisiana, and other states for prosecution. At the outset of the Beltway sniper prosecutions, the primary reason for extraditing the two suspects from Maryland, where they were arrested, to Virginia, was the differences in how the two states deal with the death penalty. While the death penalty is allowed in Maryland, it is only applied to persons who were adults at the time of their crimes, whereas Virginia had also allowed the death penalty for offenders who had been juveniles when their crimes were committed.^{[citation needed]} In May 2005, Virginia and Maryland reached an agreement to allow Maryland to begin prosecuting some of the pending charges there, and Malvo was extradited to Montgomery County, Maryland under heavy security.

On June 16, 2006, Malvo told authorities that he and Muhammad were guilty of four additional shootings. The four most recently linked victims were also shot in 2002: a man killed in Los Angeles during a robbery in February or March; a 76-year-old man who survived a shooting on May 18 at a golf course in Clearwater, Florida; a man shot to death while doing yard work in Denton, Texas, May 27; and 54-year-old John Gaeta^[10] who survived being shot on August 1 during a robbery outside a shopping mall near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.^[11]

On October 10, 2006, Malvo pleaded guilty to the six murders he was charged with in Maryland. On November 8, he was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. On October 27, 2006, Malvo told police that he and Muhammad were responsible for the killing of a 60-year-old man on a golf course in Tucson, Arizona. He claimed that they shot Jerry Taylor while he was practicing chip shots on a local golf course. Tucson police had reportedly sought to speak with Malvo about the March 19, 2002 death of Taylor, who died from a single long range gunshot.^{[citation needed]}

Civil lawsuit

In 2003, Malvo and Muhammad were named in a major civil lawsuit by the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence on behalf of some two of their victims who were seriously wounded and the families of some of those murdered. Co-defendants Bull's Eye Shooter Supply and Bushmaster Firearms contributed to a landmark $2.5 million out-of-court settlement in late 2004.

The "real plan," as told by Lee Boyd Malvo

In Muhammad's May 2006 trial in Montgomery County, Maryland, Malvo took the stand and confessed to a more detailed version of the pair's plans. Malvo, after extensive counseling, admitted that he had been lying in the statement he made after his arrest when he had admitted to being the triggerman for every shooting. Malvo claimed that he had said this in order to protect Muhammad from the death penalty, because it was more difficult to achieve the death penalty for a minor. Malvo stated, "I'm not proud of myself. I'm just trying to make amends", expressing his regret in the shootings.^[12] In his two days of testimony, Malvo outlined detailed aspects of all the shootings.

Part of his testimony concerned Muhammad's complete, multiphase plan. His plan consisted of three phases in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro areas. Phase One consisted of meticulously planning, mapping, and practicing their locations around the DC area. This way after each shooting they would be able to quickly leave the area on a predetermined path, and move on to the next location. Muhammad's goal in Phase One was to kill six white people a day for 30 days. Malvo went on to describe how Phase One did not go as planned due to heavy traffic and the lack of a clear shot and/or getaway at different locations.^{[citation needed]}

Phase Two was meant to be moved up to Baltimore. Malvo described how this phase was close to being implemented, but never was carried out. Phase Two was intended to begin by killing a pregnant woman by shooting her in the stomach. The next step would have been to shoot and kill a Baltimore police officer. At the officer's funeral, they would plant several improvised explosive devices. These explosives were intended to kill a large number of police, since many police would attend another officer's funeral. More bombs were then to be detonated as ambulances arrived at the scene.^[13]

The last phase was to take place very shortly after, if not during, Phase Two. The third phase was to extort several million dollars from the U.S. government. This money would be used to finance a larger plan: to travel north into Canada and recruit other effectively orphaned boys to use weapons and stealth, and send them out to commit shootings across the country.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Post-sentencing

As of 2011 Lee Boyd Malvo, Virginia Department of Corrections # 1180834, Inmate # 330873, is incarcerated at the Red Onion State Prison.^[18]

• On October 2, 2007, Malvo called a daughter of one of the victims, Cheryll Witz, to apologize for his role.^[19]

• Malvo reportedly sent a letter, dated February 21, 2010, to apologize to John C. Gaeta for shooting him. Malvo wrote: "I am truly sorry for the pain I caused you and your loved ones. I was relieved to hear that you suffered no paralyzing injuries and that you are alive."^[20]

• A Wise County, Virginia Circuit Judge denied Malvo's request to change his name on July 29, 2011. Malvo petitioned the court for the name change on the basis that it would be safer if his fellow inmates did not know his real name, due to his notoriety.^[21]

References

1. ^ "CNN.com – Malvo: Muhammad 'made me a monster' – May 23, 2006". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/05/23/sniper.trial/. Retrieved May 7, 2010. 
2. ^ Baltimore Sun coverage of Muhammad and Malvo
3. ^ ^{a b} Gibson, Dirk Cameron. Clues from Killers. 2004, pp. 41-42
4. ^ "Bio: Lee Boyd Malvo". Fox News. 2006-05-23. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,66659,00.html. Retrieved 2011-05-11. 
5. ^ http://www.atf.gov/firearms/how-to/identify-prohibited-persons.html
6. ^ "Murder trial for Malvo set to start in November"
7. ^ The Scotsman report on Muhammad and Malvo
8. ^ Liptak, Adam. "Defense Portrays Different Sides of Sniper Suspect". 23 November 2003. The New York Times. Accessed on 24 July 2011.
9. ^ Kutner, Lawrence and Olson, Cheryl K. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. ISBN 0-7432-9951-5. p. 8.
10. ^ McLaughlin, Eliott C. (March 4, 2010). "Sniper's apology brings closure, no justice". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/04/malvo.sniper.confession/. Retrieved 2010-03-04. 
11. ^ "Sniper reportedly details 4 new shootings" Associated Press/KX net.com, June 16, 2006
12. ^ CNN coverage of Muhammad and Malvo
13. ^ "D.C. Sniper Tells Jury of Lethal Bomb Plots". Los Angeles Times. 2006-05-24. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/24/nation/na-sniper24. Retrieved 2011-05-11. 
14. ^ Mount, Harry (2006-06-25). "The sniper's plan: kill six whites a day for 30 days". London: Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1519411/The-snipers-plan-kill-six-whites-a-day-for-30-days.html. Retrieved 2011-05-11. 
15. ^ Montaldo, Charles (2006-05-25). "Malvo Outlines Snipers' Plan of Terror". About.com. http://crime.about.com/b/a/256952.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 
16. ^ "Malvo: Muhammad 'made me a monster'; Younger man cross-examined by former mentor in sniper trial", CNN, May 23, 2006
17. ^ "Rehabbing The D.C. Snipers"^{[dead link]}
18. ^ "Offender Locator." Red Onion State Prison. Retrieved on January 16, 2010.
19. ^ Five years After Killings, Sniper Calls Victim's Daughter
20. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100305/ap_on_re_us/us_sniper_shootings_apology
21. ^ Judge from Southwest Virginia rejects sniper's request for new name

External links

• Complete Court TV coverage of the Lee Boyd Malvo trial

Bibliography

• Profile: Lee Boyd Malvo, BBC News
• Malvo Found Guilty in Washington Sniper Case, Reuters (via Yahoo! News)
• Article about Malvo's indoctrination

Persondata
Name	Malvo, Lee Boyd
Alternative names	Malvo, John Lee (alias); Malvo, Malik (alias)
Short description	Serial killer
Date of birth	February 18, 1985
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Date of death
Place of death