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| Sunday, 3 November 2002 |
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Sniper suspects' gun matches Alabama murder weapon MONTGOMERY, Ala., Saturday (Reuters) The rifle that was used in the Washington-area sniper slayings was the same weapon used to kill a woman during an earlier robbery at an Alabama liquor store, Alabama authorities said on Friday. Montgomery Police Chief John Wilson said ballistics tests showed conclusively that a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle found in the possession of John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo fired the bullet that killed Claudine Parker, 52, at an ABC Beverages outlet on Sept. 21. Muhammad, a 41-year-old Gulf War veteran, and Malvo, a 17-year-old Jamaican national, face an array of murder charges in connection with a monthlong nationwide killing spree that left at least 13 people dead. Ten of the murders occurred during random sniper attacks in the nation's capital and outlying areas. Alabama, which has the death penalty, was the first to charge the pair with capital murder. "Now, we have one more piece of evidence that puts the people (suspects) at the scene," Wilson said in a news conference in the Alabama capital. "I'm confident that all the pieces will come together and we'll figure it out, and we just have to factor the rifle into the equation." Wilson also said that authorities had discovered a handgun that matched the make and model of the gun that a witness said Muhammad was carrying during the Alabama murder. Alabama is one of four states building murder cases against Muhammad and his teen-age companion, who were arrested last week while sleeping in a car at a highway rest stop in Maryland, about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Washington. Ten people were killed and three were critically wounded, each by a single shot to the head or torso by the sniper during a three-week period. The apparently random attacks cut down motorists at gasoline stations, shoppers outside stores and a 13-year-old en route to school. Six of the victims were killed in Maryland and three were slain in Virginia. One was shot to death in Washington. Maryland and Virginia also have filed murder charges against Muhammad and Malvo for the attacks. Earlier this week, the federal government charged Muhammad with murder for his alleged part in the killing spree. On Thursday, authorities in Louisiana joined the fray when they filed murder charges against the pair after ballistics tests linked them to the Sept. 23 killing of Hong Im Ballenger, a 45-year-old Baton Rouge shopkeeper. Police in Washington state also are investigating whether Muhammad and Malvo may have been involved in a murder there. |
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