Remembering the killing spree of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
Posted: Wednesday, April 13, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
John Allen Williams was born in Louisiana on December 31, 1960. His mother died when he was four years old and he was raised by an aunt in Baton Rouge.
When Williams finished high school, he married Carol Kaglear and joined the Louisiana Army National Guard. They had one son named Lindbergh. In 1985, he left his wife and converted to Islam. At this time, he joined the “Nation Of Islam”.
He reportedly became restless and left the military service in 1994. He opened an automobile mechanic shop and was not successful in it, so later opened a karate training school which also proved unsuccessful. In 1999, his wife, Mildred filed for divorce and in the following year she filed a restraining order against him for threats he had made.
Williams took the three children, fled the country and traveled to Antigua in the Leeward Islands. It is thought that this is where he met and became attached to Lee Boyd Malvo who later proved to be his associate in the killing spree which took place.
He later returned to the Bellingham Washington with the children. As soon as police learned of his presence, the children were taken from him and returned to the custody of his wife, who moved with them to Maryland.
(John Allen Muhammad--Wikipedia Photo)
Enraged over the loss of his children, Muhammad began to fixate on Malvo who had moved to Bellingham with his mother, Una James, that October. They together lived in a homeless shelter and developed a disturbing father-son dynamic. Muhammad seemed to control every aspect of Malvo's life, imposing an exercise program and a special diet, one that reportedly consisted of honey and crackers at one point. (John Allen Muhammad: www.biography.com)
In December, 2001, Malvo and his mother were arrested for being in the country illegally, but were released awaiting a hearing date. Around this time Williams changed his name to Muhammad.
On August 1, 2002, a man named John Gaeta was changing a tire in a parking lot in Hammond, Louisiana when he was shot in the neck and the bullet exited his back. Gaeta fell and lay still pretending to be dead while the shooter took his wallet. On March 1, 2010, he received a letter of apology from Lee Boyd Malvo.
On September 5, 2002, as Paul LaRuffa was locking up his pizzeria in Clinton, Maryland when he was shot 6 times at close range. He also survived the shooting, and after Muhammad and Malvo were apprehended, they found LaRuffa’s laptop computer in Muhammad’s automobile.
On September 21, 2002, a liquor store clerk in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudine Parker, was shot and killed during a robbery and a second employee, was injured but survived. Evidence found at the scene, eventually tied Muhammad and Malvo to this crime.
The two were also linked to another killing, Hong Im Ballenger on September 23 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After these initial and somewhat isolated cases, apparently committed for financial reasons, the duo moved on to Montgomery County, Maryland. Killings there became random in nature and seemingly without reason or motive. It seemed as if most of the shootings were planned for easy escape, rather than for who was shot. In several cases they parked on virtually no traffic street where some brush or other factors obscured their vehicle yet allowing them a clear shot at whatever victim happened to come into range, some yards away
On October 2, 2002, a shot was fired through a window at Michael‘s Craft Store in Aspen Hill but no one was injured there. But an hour later, a 55 year old program analyst, James Martin was shot and killed by a single bullet in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Glenmont.
The next day, October 3, four individuals were killed in separate shootings in a two hour period from 7:41 A.M. to 9:53 A.M. Then a fifth was killed at 9:15 P.M. In each of these cases, the victim was shot with a single bullet from some distance away.
After this horrendous day of killing the perpetrators started covering more distance, and more time between killings. One victim on October 4, one on October 7, and one on October 9.
And more, on October 11, 14, 19 (this one survived), 21, and 22. Mercifully Muhammad and Malvo were found sleeping in their car in a rest area off Interstate 70 on October 24 and were arrested.
After lengthy legal moves and processes, the pair were tried in both Maryland and Virginia. Malvo, due to his age and also due to the leadership of Muhammad, escaped the death penalty but was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Virginia courts sentenced Muhammad to death while Maryland sentenced him to multiple life sentences without parole. After lower court appeals, the case was brought before the Virginia Supreme Court where the verdict and sentence were affirmed, and a stay of execution was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied, and a clemency request was made to Governor Tim Kaine was also denied. He was executed by lethal injection on November 10, 2009 where he was declared dead at 9:11 P.M.
(Lee Boyd Malvo; Wikipedia photo)
Lee Boyd Malvo is currently serving his life sentence at the Red Onion State Prison, Virginia Department of Corrections as inmate number 330873.
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