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SENTENCE: John Allen Muhammad

THE MAN behind the 2002 sniper attacks in Washington DC, John Allen Muhammad, was executed last week after the US Supreme Court refused to block his November 10 execution.

Muhammad was executed at a Virginia prison for shooting dead Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during a three-week shooting attack covering Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.

Muhammad didn’t say anything during the execution, which was done by lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Centre in Virginia. It took five minutes for him to die to the drugs after being injected at 9.06pm.

Asked if he wished to give a final statement, Muhammad remained silent.

Larry Traylor, a spokesman for Virginia Department of Corrections, said: "He didn't acknowledge us or look at us. He seemed quiet and relaxed, I never heard him utter a word or say anything in particular at all."

The Supreme Court had refused to hear an appeal on Muhammad’s behalf.

Muhammad, who was accompanied by teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, is suspected of killing 10 people in the 2002 attacks. They were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona, the Associated Press (AP) said.

Before his execution, Muhammad’s attorney, Jonathan Sheldon, told AP: "Virginia will execute a severely mentally ill man who also suffered from Gulf War Syndrome the day before Veterans Day."

Malvo is currently in prison after being given a life sentence.

Published: 16 November 2009
Issue: 1398

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