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D.C. Sniper John Allen Muhammad executed
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(AP Photo/Virginia Department of Corrections)
JARRATT, Va. ---John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the D.C. sniper attacks in 2002 that left 10 people dead and terrorized an entire region for weeks, was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday night.
John Allen Muhammad was pronounced dead at 9:11 p.m. at Greenville Correctional Center in Jarratt, prison spokesman Larry Traylor said.
“There were no complications during his execution and didn’t hear him utter a word”
Muhammad made no final statement instead opting to watch the proceedings emotionless.
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine refused to commute Muhammad death sentence to life in prison based on his lawyer’s assertion that Muhammad severely mentally ill.
On Tuesday, Muhammad met with immediate family members but did not have a spiritual adviser, Traylor said.
Muhammad also met with J. Wyndal Gordon, who was his former stand-by attorney in his Maryland trial, in which he represented himself.
"His attitude was strong, it was sturdy," Gordon told reporters. "Mr. Muhammad maintains his innocence in this case, and he always has. He is not remorseful, although he does extend his condolences to the families. What these families went through is tragic in every level. Given the injustices in this case, what Mr. Mohammad went through is equally as tragic."
Muhammad’s final meal consisted of chicken and red sauce and some cakes, before being lead into the execution chamber at 8:58p.m. by prison guards.
Muhammad, 48, and his then teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, who is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, set out on a Three-week killing spree in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. targeting people as they shopped and pumped gas, prompting some gas station owners in the area to erect barriers to shield their customers from sniper fire.
On Oct. 24, 2002, a terrified region was able to breathe a sigh of relief when police captured Muhammad and Malvo as they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car that was outfitted with a hole in the trunk to allow a shooter to fire through with minimum exposure.
Cheryll Witz was one of several victims' family members who traveled to Virginia to watch the execution. Malvo confessed that he shot her father, Jerry Taylor, on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002 at Muhammad's direction.
"He basically watched my dad breathe his last breath," she said. "Why shouldn't I watch his last breath?"
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