Summary
Highlights
On October 24th, 2002, at 12:45 a.m., Whitney Donahghue, a fridge repairman, spotted a Chevy Caprice matching the description of the sniper's vehicle in a layby near Frederick, Maryland. He called the police, leading to a SWAT team storming the car at 3:15 a.m. and arresting John Allen Muhammad and 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, who were found sleeping inside.
Following their arrest, Montgomery County, Maryland, and several Virginia counties vied for prosecution. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft decided they would be tried first in Virginia due to its new anti-terrorism law that made killing to intimidate the public a capital crime. Investigators discovered Muhammad and Malvo shared deep hatreds. Malvo confessed they chose Montgomery County for the killings because it was where rich people lived and he hated white people for allegedly trying to harm Louis Farrakhan.
John Muhammad, born John Alan Williams in 1960, was a twice-divorced father of four who served 9 years in the army, including during the Gulf War, where he earned an expert marksman badge. He exhibited a violent streak, allegedly throwing an incendiary grenade in Saudi Arabia. After an honorable discharge in 1994, he became angry and bitter, joining the Nation of Islam. His businesses failed, and after a bitter divorce, he took his children to Antigua in 2000, where he met Lee Malvo. Williams legally changed his name to John Muhammad in 2001.
In Antigua, Malvo moved in with Muhammad and his children after Malvo's mother emigrated. The two formed a close bond, with Malvo beginning to read the Quran. Muhammad, seen as a tough, warrior-like figure, became increasingly anti-American, believing the country had not treated him or his race well, and reportedly felt America deserved the 9/11 attacks.
The snipers killed 10 people in public places, using meticulous planning. Their Chevy Caprice was modified into a 'killing machine' with a loosened rear seat and a slot cut above the license plate for shooting. Inside, police found a GPS, maps marking targets, and a laptop. Malvo described how he would curl up like a spare tire in the boot after a shot. The aging car allowed them to shoot and escape undetected.
Investigators, including Police Chief Charles Moose, found no discernible pattern or connection among the victims, despite extensive efforts to find one. Forensic tests confirmed the Bushmaster XM15 rifle, known for its accuracy and power, found in their car, was the murder weapon. A silencer was also recovered.
For three weeks, investigators and journalists mistakenly focused on a white truck as the killer's vehicle, a lead repeatedly emphasized by police. This misdirection allowed Muhammad and Malvo, in their dark blue Chevy Caprice, to evade capture despite multiple encounters with law enforcement. For instance, a Baltimore police officer spoke to John Muhammad sleeping in the Caprice after a school shooting, but found no reason to arrest him. Criminal profilers on television also misled the public by speculating the killer was likely a white man aged 20-40 based on statistics, further hampering the public's ability to be effective eyewitnesses.