Execution Date Set for 'Beltway Sniper'

Seven years after he committed the acts that terrorized residents in the District and the surrounding area, John Allen Muhammad’s execution date has been set for Nov. 10.

In October 2002, Muhammad killed 10 people and critically injured three in sniper shootings throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia. His use of the Capital Beltway to travel led to the media’s use of the name “the Beltway Sniper.” Police discovered Muhammad’s involvement on Oct. 24, 2002.

Muhammad’s court case has been a matter of contention for the last seven years. In 2003, he was charged for and convicted of the first of the 10 killings. In 2006, he was found guilty of six more murders. Prior to this, on March 9, 2004, a judge confirmed the jury’s sentiments that Muhammad should be sentenced to death by lethal injection. Muhammad has been fighting his sentence since. Following a close decision last Wednesday, however, his execution date was set.

Muhammad’s attorneys are still working to exculpate their client and help him avoid the death penalty, but their efforts so far have been futile. Muhammad plans to ask Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) for clemency and file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, but it is doubtful whether he will succeed in either.