Sniper Jury Recommends Death

A Virginia jury decided Monday that convicted murderer John Allen Muhammad should die for his role in the Washington-area sniper spree, in which 10 people were killed and three were wounded. Jurors rejected a sentence of life in prison.

After five hours of deliberations over two days, jurors delivered their sentence recommendation just one week after convicting the 42-year-old Army veteran of murder. As the decision was read, Muhammad maintained the same unflinching demeanor he has shown through most of the trial.

The jury had convicted Muhammad several counts related to the wave of killings that left 10 people dead and three wounded.

On each of four counts, the jurors handed down the highest possible penalty. They recommended death for the murder of Dean Harold Meyers on Oct. 9, 2002, and also on a charge of terrorism.

The jury also recommended the maximum sentences of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to murder and three years for using a firearm in a felony.

The jury apparently concluded that prosecutors proved at least one of two aggravating factors allowing the death penalty: that Muhammad would pose a danger in the future or that his crimes were wantonly vile.

"Clearly, these jurors believed that Muhammad was just as culpable as if he had actually fired the shot that killed Dean Meyers, the victim in this case," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "He didn't fire that shot, of course, but jurors were unwilling to show him any sympathy or mercy anyway."

Prosecutors earlier depicted Muhammad as a ruthless murderer who was "captain of a killing team," but offered no proof that showed Muhammad was the triggerman. His DNA was found on the .223-caliber rifle used in the killings.

The jury's recommendation is not final. Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. can reduce the punishment to life in prison without parole when Muhammad is formally sentenced, but Virginia judges rarely take such action. Sentencing was set for Feb. 12.

This is not the last Muhammad will see of courtrooms. He will return to court for his formal sentencing, for required appeals and possibly for trials in other jurisdictions, Cohen says.

The jury of seven women and five men began deliberations Friday on whether Muhammad should be put to death. Before breaking for the weekend, jurors asked the judge what would happen if they can't reach a unanimous verdict on the sentence. He instructed them to continue, which they did Monday.

Muhammad's alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, is on trial separately in nearby Chesapeake. His attorneys do not dispute that he took part in the sniper attacks, but contend he was brainwashed by Muhammad and is innocent by reason of insanity. In that case, the prosecution resumed its case Monday.

The jurors who decided Muhammad's fate saw a softer side of the convicted murderer Thursday, watching a home movie in which he plays with his children and encourages them to take their first steps.

But prosecutors said evidence about Muhammad once being a good family man is irrelevant stacked against the terror of last year's killing spree. They urged the jury to sentence Muhammad to death.

"That person no longer exists," prosecutor James Willett said. "This is not a question of whether there once was a good father, whether there once was a good husband."

The tape was played immediately after Muhammad's sister, Aurolyn Williams, described the difficult circumstances of their early childhood. Their mother died of breast cancer when Muhammad was 3 and was in constant grief because they could not afford pain medication for her.

The defense argued that the death penalty would be more difficult for Muhammad's children than Muhammad himself. The jury previously heard letters written by his three children — ages 10 through 13 — in which they told their father they loved him and asked him why he had committed the killings.

Willett said Muhammad should be ashamed for using his children in a ploy to win sympathy, pointing out that 21 children lost their parents as a result of Muhammad's killing spree.

Before the trial began, Muhammad refused to meet with the state's mental health evaluators, a move that barred his defense lawyers from putting on their psychological evidence.

Only Texas has executed more people than Virginia since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 — 310 to 89. Virginia is one of 21 states that allow the execution of inmates who committed capital crimes as 16- and 17-year-olds. Malvo was 17 at the time of the shootings.