John Muhammad has been sentenced to death for one of ten sniper-style murders that terrorised the Washington D.C. area of the United States in 2002.
Judge LeRoy Millette last night confirmed last November's guilty verdict and death sentence by a jury and brushed aside Muhammad's appeal, which argued last month that his conviction was based on guesswork and emotion rather than facts and law.
"These offenses were so vile, they were almost beyond comprehension," Judge Millette said, and he set October 14th as the execution date. That date will likely change as the case now moves through the automatic appeals process, beginning with the Virginia Supreme Court.
Before the sentence was passed, Muhammad again insisted he was innocent of the crimes that brought a reign of fear over the US capital area, when victims were shot at random as they walked to school, mowed grass or waited at bus stops.
"I don't stand before you today trying to make any excuses," Muhammad said. "I had nothing to do with this."
The former Gulf War veteran was sentenced by a Virginia Beach jury for killing Dean Meyers (53), who was shot as he refueled his car in Manassas, Virginia. The trial had been moved to Virginia Beach, some 200 miles away, to avoid a prejudiced jury.
Muhammad's accomplice, Lee Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the killings, faces his sentencing hearing today, when a judge will decide whether to confirm the jury's recommendation of life in prison. Malvo had faced a possible death sentence.