Post by ♥Eva♥ on Nov 10, 2009 13:27:44 GMT -5
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573584,00.html QUOTE:
Virginia Governor Denies Clemency, D.C. Sniper to Be Executed Tonight
Tuesday , November 10, 2009
RICHMOND, Virginia —
Virginia's governor has denied clemency for sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad, clearing the way for his Tuesday execution.
Muhammad was sentenced to death for killing Dean Harold Meyers in 2002 at a Manassas, Virginia, gas station during a spree that left 10 dead across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Muhammad is set to die by injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. His attorneys have asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they say he is mentally ill. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday.
He and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.
For the families of those killed, the day is a long time coming.
Cheryll Witz is one of several victims' relatives who were going to watch the execution. Malvo confessed that, at Muhammad's direction, he shot her father, Jerry Taylor, on a Tucson, Arizona, golf course in March 2002.
"He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," she said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"
The shootings terrorized the Washington region, with victims gunned down while doing everyday chores like shopping or pumping gas. People stayed indoors. Those who had to go outside weaved as they walked or bobbed their heads to make themselves less of a target.
The terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and Malvo as they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted so a shooter could hide in the trunk and fire through a hole in the body of the vehicle. Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia.
Death penalty opponents planned vigils across the state, and some were headed for Jarratt, about an hour south of Richmond, for the execution.
Beth Panilaitis, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said those who planned to protest understand the fear that gripped the community, and the nation, during the attacks.
"The greater metro area and the citizens of Virginia have been safe from this crime for seven years," Panilaitis said. "Incarceration has worked and life without the possibility of parole has and will continue to keep the people of Virginia safe."
Virginia Governor Denies Clemency, D.C. Sniper to Be Executed Tonight
Tuesday , November 10, 2009
RICHMOND, Virginia —
Virginia's governor has denied clemency for sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad, clearing the way for his Tuesday execution.
Muhammad was sentenced to death for killing Dean Harold Meyers in 2002 at a Manassas, Virginia, gas station during a spree that left 10 dead across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Muhammad is set to die by injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. His attorneys have asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they say he is mentally ill. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday.
He and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.
For the families of those killed, the day is a long time coming.
Cheryll Witz is one of several victims' relatives who were going to watch the execution. Malvo confessed that, at Muhammad's direction, he shot her father, Jerry Taylor, on a Tucson, Arizona, golf course in March 2002.
"He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," she said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"
The shootings terrorized the Washington region, with victims gunned down while doing everyday chores like shopping or pumping gas. People stayed indoors. Those who had to go outside weaved as they walked or bobbed their heads to make themselves less of a target.
The terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and Malvo as they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted so a shooter could hide in the trunk and fire through a hole in the body of the vehicle. Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia.
Death penalty opponents planned vigils across the state, and some were headed for Jarratt, about an hour south of Richmond, for the execution.
Beth Panilaitis, executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said those who planned to protest understand the fear that gripped the community, and the nation, during the attacks.
"The greater metro area and the citizens of Virginia have been safe from this crime for seven years," Panilaitis said. "Incarceration has worked and life without the possibility of parole has and will continue to keep the people of Virginia safe."