|
  |
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Grand jury indicts teen sniper suspect
FAIRFAX, Virginia (CNN) -- A grand jury indicted 17-year-old John Lee Malvo on two counts of capital murder in last fall's sniper shootings, setting the stage for a death penalty trial. Malvo was indicted on three counts, two of which carry a possible death sentence. In addition to one count of capital murder, the Fairfax County grand jury indicted Malvo on a terrorism charge that also carries a possible death penalty and one firearms violation. A court date is set for March, but prosecutors and defense attorneys said they expect the trial to be delayed because of a vast amount of evidence that must be reviewed and because of the complexity of the case. Malvo is charged in the October 14 shooting death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Home Depot hardware store in Falls Church, Virginia. At a preliminary hearing in juvenile court last week, prosecutors presented evidence linking a rifle found in Malvo's possession with the Franklin shooting and with three other shootings. But there were apparently no eyewitnesses to any of those shootings. Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, 42, are accused of killing 13 people and wounding five in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. They are being tried first in Virginia because its laws allow the best opportunities for the death penalty. Muhammed is scheduled to stand trial in neighboring Prince William County, Virginia, in October for the shooting of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station in Manassas, Virginia, on October 9, 2002.
The grand jury granted Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan's request for capital murder indictments against Malvo under two statutes: one prohibiting the killing of more than one person in a three-year period, and an anti-terrorism law. Malvo's birth certificate lists his name as Lee Boyd Malvo. The charging documents in the Franklin case identify the suspect as Lee Boyd Malvo, also known as John Lee Malvo. On Tuesday, a judge dismissed efforts by Malvo's guardian to obtain police documents about the deadly shooting spree. The guardian, Todd Petit, argued that a provision in juvenile law gave him the right to seek a wide range of records from police and other agencies that had documents about Malvo. Prosecutors contend the information was being sought prematurely before the trial.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
