Teen-age Sniper Officially Sentenced To Life In Prison
By Emmanuel N. Jackson
Teen-age sniper Lee Boyd Malvo will spend the rest of his natural life in prison, as a Virginia judge imposed the sentence a jury decided nearly four months ago.
Malvo, who was spared the death penalty for life in prison, was formally sentenced Wednesday in Chesapeake, Va. Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush had little room to change the jury’s decision. Roush could only decrease a life sentence, not increase it.
"It's been a sad circumstance for everyone involved in this case," said defense attorney Craig Cooley after the hearing.
Malvo’s sentencing comes a day after a Manassas judge agreed with a jury that Malvo's accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, should receive the death penalty for his role in a 21-day shooting spree that left 10 dead, three wounded and a nation terrorized.
On Dec. 19, Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the crimes, was convicted for the October 14, 2002 killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, who was shot down with a high-powered rifle in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Fairfax, Va.
His accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, was sentenced to death on Nov. 24, 2003.
Lawyers for Malvo lodged an insanity defense, arguing that the intimidating Muhammad had brainwashed the Jamaican native. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Malvo's attorneys had argued that their client should be spared death because the influential Muhammad had manipulated his mind.
Do you agree with the Judge’s decision to sentence Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison?
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