Lee Boyd Malvo

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Lee Boyd Malvo
Born February 18, 1985 (1985-02-18) (age 23)
Kingston, Jamaica
Penalty life imprisonment
Status currently imprisoned in Red Onion State Prison

Lee Boyd Malvo (alias John Lee Malvo or Malik Malvo) (born February 18, 1985), is a Jamaican-born American convicted of mass murder. He, along with John Allen Muhammad, was arrested on October 24, 2002, in connection with the Beltway sniper attacks. These turned out to be only the last of a series of shootings across the United States 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. For example, according to Craig Cooley, one of Malvo's defense attorneys, Malvo believed Muhammad when told that the $10 million ransom sought from the government to stop the sniper killings would be used to establish a Utopian society for 140 homeless children on a Canadian compound. [1] Malvo ultimately cooperated with investigators, and is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole; Muhammad, who has remained silent, is awaiting execution in Virginia.

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[edit] Childhood

Lee Boyd Malvo was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to Una James, a seamstress, and Leslie Samuel Malvo, a mason. His parents were never married, and their relationship ended while he was an infant. His father rarely saw him afterward, and his mother was often traveling to look for work. Malvo was usually placed in the care of friends and relatives.

He attended York Castle High school under the name Lee Malvo in Jamaica before he and his mother emigrated to Antigua in 1998. His father said in 2002 that this was when he last saw his son.

[edit] Joining John Allen Muhammad

Una and Lee Malvo first met John Allen Muhammad in Antigua 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, planning to have him follow her later. He did join his mother for a short time in 2001. 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. Classmates have said he did well in school, but that he did not make any friends. 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. During this period, Malvo became a member of the Nation of Islam.[2]

[edit] Interstate Rampage

Main article: Beltway sniper attacks

In the summer of 2002, Malvo and Muhammad were seen for a short time in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Malvo's fingerprints were also found at the scene of a murder at a liquor store in Montgomery, Alabama, where another employee was seriously wounded, but survived. From there, they continued their rampage in an attempt to extort $10 million from the U.S. government, traveling through the Washington, DC, area and surrounding portions of Maryland and Virginia. Their killing spree ended when Malvo and Muhammad were arrested while sleeping in a Maryland rest area along Interstate 70.

[edit] 2002 Beltway Sniper Attack Victims

These are the names of the victims who were murdered or wounded in the attacks. This list is in chronological order.

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

[edit] 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. A Fairfax attorney, Michael Arif, was appointed to represent him. The team assisting Mr. Arif included Thomas B. Walsh, Mark J. Petrovich, and Professor Roger Groot.[3] While in jail, he made a recorded confession to Detective Samuel Walker in which he stated that he "intended to kill them all."

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 Louis Farrakhan's 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.

After nearly 14 hours of deliberation, a jury in Chesapeake, Virginia, convicted him of both charges on December 18, 2003. 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. The judge could not sentence him to any greater penalty than the jury had recommended.

During this trial, Malvo at times seemed uninterested in the legal proceedings, drawing pictures of the judge, lawyers and other people in the courtroom. The presiding judge, Jane Marum Roush of the Fairfax County Circuit Court, joked with courtroom artists about this incident, stating that their art might have to compete with the defendant's for newspaper and TV coverage.

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 plead 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 are still interested in putting both Malvo and Muhammad on trial.

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.

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 a 54-year-old man who survived being shot on August 1 during a robbery outside a shopping mall near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[4]

On October 10, 2006, Malvo plead 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 long sought to speak with Malvo about the March 19, 2002 death of Taylor, who died from a single long range gunshot.

[edit] 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. Although Malvo and Muhammad were each believed to be indigent, co-defendants Bull's Eye Shooter Supply and Bushmaster Firearms contributed to a landmark $2.5 million out-of-court settlement in late 2004.

[edit] 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 was lying at the earlier Virginia trial where 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.[5] 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, DC and Baltimore, Maryland 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 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.

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 City police officer. Then, at the officer's funeral, they were to create several improvised explosive devices complete with shrapnel. These explosives were intended to kill a large number of police, since many police would attend another officer's funeral.

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.[6][7][8][9]

[edit] Post-sentencing

On October 2, 2007, Malvo called a daughter of one of the victims, Cheryll Witz, to apologize for his role.[10] During his apology, Malvo told the victim's daughter that "The Lee then and Lee now are two different people."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sniper Malvo calls daughter of Ariz. victim - News - inRich.com
  2. ^ The religion of Lee Boyd Malvo, Belway Sniper
  3. ^ Murder trial for Malvo set to start in November - Judges, Fairfax County, Home Depot Incorporated - baltimoresun.com
  4. ^ Sniper reportedly details 4 new shootings Associated Press/KX net.com 16 June, 2006
  5. ^ Ahlers, Mike. "[http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/05/23/sniper.trial/index.html Malvo: Muhammad 'made me a monster' Younger man cross-examined by former mentor in sniper trial]", CNN, 2006-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-07-17. 
  6. ^ Mount, Harry. "The sniper's plan: kill six whites a day for 30 days", Telegraph, 2006-06-25. Retrieved on 2007-07-17. 
  7. ^ Montaldo, Charles. "Malvo Outlines Snipers' Plan of Terror", About.com, 2006-05-25. Retrieved on 2007-07-17. 
  8. ^ Ahlers, Mike. "[http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/05/23/sniper.trial/index.html Malvo: Muhammad 'made me a monster' Younger man cross-examined by former mentor in sniper trial]", CNN, 2006-05-23. Retrieved on 2007-07-17. 
  9. ^ Rehabbing The D.C. Snipers by Investor's Business Daily, October 17, 2007
  10. ^ Five years After Killings, Sniper Calls Victim's Daughter

[edit] External links

[edit] Bibliography

Persondata
NAME Malvo, Lee Boyd
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Malvo, John Lee (alias); Malvo, Malik (alias)
SHORT DESCRIPTION serial killer
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH Kingston, Jamaica
DATE OF DEATH living
PLACE OF DEATH