#10

Beltway Sniper Attacks

aka DC Sniper Attacks

The Beltway Sniper Attacks, better known as the DC Sniper Attacks, took place in 2002 in Washington D.C. In total, the attacks claimed the lives of 17 people and seriously injured 10 others.

The pinnacle of the story (and namesake of the entire incident) takes place in/around Washington, D.C. but starts long before & across the country in Washington State.

We would later learn that 41 year old John Allen Muhammad and 17 year old Lee Boyd Malvo were the ones responsible for sniper attacks across the United States from Washington State to Alabama to Washington D.C.

John Allen Muhammad was born as John Allen Williams on December 31, 1960 in Baton Rouge, LA. He joins the Nation of Islam in 1987 and changes his last name to Muhammad in 2001. He served in the US Army during the Gulf War and qualified as an expert marksmen with a rifle. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant in 1994 after 17 years of service. John Allen has a little bit of a mental break and kidnaps his 3 children, taking them away to Antigua in 1999 which is where he meets (soon to be accomplice) Lee Boyd Malvo. Muhammad looked up to Osama Bin Laden and al-Queda if that tells you anything about the type of person that he is. He thought the September 11 terrorist attacks were super cool and he also wanted to leave his mark on the nation. Experts agree that his most likely motive for the attacks, however, was to kill his ex-wife for revenge for divorcing his crazy ass.

Lee Boyd Malvo was born February 18, 1985 in Kingston, Jamaica. Malvo meets John Allen Muhammad in Antigua in 1999 and immigrates illegally in 2001 to Miami, FL. Malvo travels with Muhammad to Washington State, enrolling in high school and claiming that Muhammad is his father. He soon becomes interested in firearms (especially one that he stole) and practices on the local firing range. He later claims that Muhammad brainwashed him into believing his doctrine of craziness.

There is much debate as to the psychological definition of what Muhammad and Malvo did. Some say that their collective psychopathy was similar to that of a serial killer while others argue that they fit the definition of a spree killer. Whatever they are, they were up to no good and meant to cause the most amount of harm to the most amount of people.

Whatever the reasoning or psychology behind it, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo start on their deadly spree in Washington State in 2002.

First Attacks

The first reported attack (later conclusively linked to the same killers) took place on February 16, 2002 in Tacoma, Washington. 21 year old Keenya Cook was shot and killed at the front door of her aunt's home.We later learn that Keenya's aunt was friends with Muhammad's ex-wife and had encouraged her to divorce Muhammad.

Keenya Cook

source: heavenslie.com

The second attack occurs on March 19, 2002. 60 year old Jerry Taylor was shot and killed while at a Tucson, Arizona golf course. Muhammad just happened to be visiting family in the area and selected Jerry as a random target.

Jerry Taylor

source: tucson.com

Muhammad and Malvo injure 4 others and kill 2 people between March and August 2002.

The next documented attack took place on August 1, 2002 in Hammond, LA. 51 year old John Gaeta was shot by Malvo while changing his tire in a parking lot. He was shot through the neck but managed to survive. He pretended to be dead until Malvo left and then sought medical attention.

John Gaeta

source: cnn.com

The killer duo then moves on to Clinton, MD where they shoot 55 year old Paul LaRuffa six times at close range on September 5, 2002. Paul survives the attack, miraculously.

Paul LaRuffa

source: baltimoresun.com

22 year old Rupinder "Benny" Oberoi is shot-but not killed-in Silver Springs, MD on September 14, 2002.

Benny Oberoi

source: gettyimages.com

September 15, 2002: Muhammad Rashid is shot and injured in Brandywine, MD.

Muhammad Rashid

Their next stop was on September 21, 2002 in Atlanta, GA. 41 year old Million Woldemariam was shot and killed while helping a friend close up their business for the night.

I couldn't locate a photo for Million Woldemariam 😐

On the same day (September 21, 2002), 52 year old Claudine Parker is shot and killed while working in a liquor store in Montgomery, AL. Her co-worker, 24 year old Kellie Adams, is also shot but survives the attack.

Claudine Parker and Kellie Adams

The next victim is 45 year old Hong Im Ballenger who was shot and killed on September 23, 2002 in Baton Rouge, LA.

Hong Im Ballanger

source: baltimoresun.com

September 26, 2002: Wright Williams is shot and injured at his grocery store in Baton Rouge, LA.

I couldn't locate a photo for Wright Williams either 😐

Keep in mind that these early attacks weren't linked to the DC Snipers until much later. At first, they were seen as an unrelated string of shootings since they were spread so far apart geographically and were completely random victims.

DC Attacks

They set their sights (I know, bad pun) on the bigger picture: Washington, D.C.

This part of the story begins on October 2, 2002 in Aspen Hill, MD. A shot is fired through a window of a Michaels Craft Store, narrowly missing store clerk Ann Chapman. No one was injured and while it was definitely scary, no serious alarms were raised.

That is until 55 year old James Martin was shot and killed 1 hour later in a parking lot of a grocery store in Wheaton, MD which is approximately 3 miles away from Aspen Hill.

James Martin

source: emaze.com

Things go from bad to worse on October 3, 2002 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

At 7:41 am, 39 year old James "Sonny" Buchanan was shot and killed while mowing the grass.

James Martin

source: cbsnews.com

At 8:12 am, 54 year old Prem Walekar was shot and killed while pumping gas at a Mobil station.

Prem Walekar

source: baltimoresun.com

At 8:37 am, 34 year old Sarah Ramos was shot and killed while sitting at a bus stop reading a book.

Sarah Ramos

source: cbsnews.com

At 9:58 am, 25 year old Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera was shot and killed while vacuuming out her car at a Shell station.

Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera

source: cbsnews.com

There is a gap in time but the killers strike again at 9:20 pm. 

72 year old Pascal Charlot was shot and killed while walking down the street.

Pascal Charlot

source: cbsnews.com

All of the murders committed on October 3, 2002 were completed with a single bullet shot from a long range distance. The shooter(s) did not stick around to survey their damage and quickly fled the scene after firing their weapon.

By this time, people in the area are freaking out. Innocent members of the community are being shot and killed while just going about their day. Law enforcement puts schools on lockdown, not allowing students to leave the building for recess or any other reason. Many parents got their kids early from school or didn't allow them to go at all.

The only evidence that law enforcement had at this time were ballistics that were found on the victims and several witnesses claimed to see either a white box truck or a blue Chevrolet Caprice near the scenes of the shootings.
It is eventually determined that the killers are driving a 1990 blue Chevrolet Caprice. Law enforcement would later find that the duo had cut a hole in the trunk as a shooting port, which allowed them to be obscured and they could easily escape after shooting.




At this point, Muhammad and Malvo decide that they are attracting a little too much attention. They determine that they will continue their attacks but they're going to spread them out--both geographically and in time between shootings.


At 2:30 pm on October 4, 2002, 43 year old Caroline Seawell was shot while loading her car in the parking lot of a Michaels Craft Store (a different Michaels than the first shooting...they were obviously Hobby Lobby fans) in Spotsylvania, VA. She was wounded but survived.

Caroline Seawell
source: fredricksburg.com


October 7, 2002. It's 8:09 am and people are rushing around, going about their typical mornings. Suddenly 13 year old Iran Brown is shot as he was arriving to school at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Maryland. He suffers massive injuries but survives. At the crime scene, law enforcement finds a Death tarot card with "Call Me God" on the front.

Iran Brown
source: cbsnews.com


October 9, 2002. 53 year old Dean Meyers is fatally shot at 8:18 am while pumping gas near Manassas, VA.

Dean Meyers

source: pottsmerc.com

Their next victim is 53 year old Kenneth Bridges, who was shot and killed at 9:30 am on October 11, 2002 while he was pumping gas near Fredricksburg, VA.

Kenneth Bridges

source: cbsnews.com

On October 14, 2002 at 9:15 pm, 47 year old Linda Franklin was fatally shot while in a Home Depot parking lot near Falls Church, VA. Linda was an FBI intelligence analyst.

Linda Franklin

source: cbsnews.com

As you might imagine, residents of DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) are more than panicking at this point. What seemed to be a few random shootings has now turned into a killing spree with no logical targets. There was massive media coverage but little evidence to go on. Gas stations were putting up tarps around their pumps so that patrons could safely pump gas. If tarps weren't available, patrons would walk in fast circles around their cars so that they would be a harder target to hit. Schools were continued to be put on lockdown and students were not allowed to go outside for any reason. Seriously, it was widespread panic with no end in sight.

Gas Station Tarps To Divert Snipers

source: baltimoresun.com

There was a short reprieve for 5 days with no reported shootings. The public was starting to relax a little bit and thought that things might finally be over. But this was just the eye of the storm.

On October 19, 2002 around 8 pm, 37 year old Jeffrey Hopper was shot in a parking lot of a steakhouse in Ashland, VA. He survived his injuries. Investigating the scene, law enforcement finds a 4 page letter in the nearby woods alleging to be from the shooter. The letter demands $10 million and makes a threat against children saying "Your children are  not safe, anywhere, at any time"

Jeffrey Hopper

source: hlntv.com

October 22, 2002. 35 year old Conrad Johnson is shot and killed around 6 am in Aspen Hill, MD. Johnson does not die right away but later succumbs to his injuries.

Conrad Johnson

source: cbsnews.com

On October 23, 2002, two huge breakthroughs happen. The first is that ballistics confirm that Conrad Johnson is the 10th DC Sniper victim and can officially be linked to the rest of the case. The second is that police in Tacoma, WA discover shell casings in a yard that might link to ballistics from the shooting of Keenya Cook, leading to a suspect.

By this time, the snipers have been wreaking havoc in the D.C. area for around 3 weeks now. 10 people are confirmed dead because of the snipers. Law enforcement is working day & night to catch the killers and eventually link the same gun to multiple shootings. FBI across the country is also working hard but having a hard time finding hard evidence. Witness statements were unreliable at best. But then---a break. A man reporting to be the shooter calls law enforcement from a payphone in Henrico County, VA. The caller does typical serial killer stuff & talks about how great he is, how dumb the police are, and how he's never going to be caught. He mentions how he got away with a crime in Montgomery, AL and is just so freakin' proud of himself. He hangs up and law enforcement manages to trace the call but misses the caller by minutes at the payphone. ATF agents get to snooping around and find the unsolved crime in Montgomery that the caller mentioned. They manage to link a fingerprint found at that crime scene to a fingerprint found at the Iran Brown crime scene, thus indicating that they are dealing with the same shooter. The fingerprint is identified as Lee Malvo's and they begin looking into Malvo's past. It's then that they discover that Malvo has been BFFs with John Allen Muhammad. They begin looking for the pair along with any possible future victims and/or motive that they might have.

Law enforcement belatedly realizes that the blue Caprice has been reported at several crime scenes but has not been followed up on because they were initially searching for a white box van. There are reports that the Caprice had been pulled over for a "minor traffic infraction" on October 3, 2002. The Caprice was also investigated on October 8, 2002 when police notice that someone is sleeping in the car on the side of a roadway. No extensive investigation is done and the vehicle is not searched. They also realize that Muhammad's ex-lover (who has a restraining order against him) lives in nearby Clinton, MD.

FINALLY on October 24, 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo were arrested in their car at a rest stop near Myersville, MA on federal weapons charges. A Bushmaster .223-caliber weapon and bipod were found in the vehicle. Ballistics later confirmed that this gun was used in 11 of 14 reported shootings.

Place of Arrest

Locations of the shootings, numbered chronologically.

In fall of 2003, Muhammad and Malvo are put on trial in Virginia.

Muhammad is found guilty of all murder & weapons charges and is sentenced to death. The death penalty is determined to be warranted due to Muhammad writing the ransom note, thus making it an act of terrorism. Muhammad represents himself, which is ALWAYS a terrible idea. Note to self: if you ever end up as a serial killer on trial, NEVER represent yourself. It never ends well.

Malvo is also found guilty on all charges & is sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole.

As Malvo was a minor, there was debate about the possibility of sentencing him to death. The case went to the Supreme Court.

In October 2004, Malvo pleads guilty to murder in Spotsylvania County and is given another life sentence without parole in order to avoid a possible death penalty sentence.

March 2005: the Supreme Court finds that minors under the age of 18 cannot be executed for their crimes. This takes the possibility of the death sentence off of the table for Lee Malvo.

September 2005: Muhammad has an execution date set for November 10, 2009 by lethal injection. A stay of execution was denied by the Supreme Court and clemency was denied by the Governor of Virginia.

In May 2006, Malvo takes the stand to testify against Muhammad at Muhammad's Maryland trials.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the whole thing:

"In John Allen Muhammad's May 2006 trial in Montgomery County, Maryland, Lee Boyd Malvo took the stand and confessed to the 17 murders. He also gave a more detailed version of the pair's plans. Malvo, after extensive psychological counseling, admitted that he was lying at the earlier Virginia trial where he had admitted to being the trigger man for every shooting. Malvo claimed that he had said this in order to protect Muhammad from a potential death sentence, and because it was more difficult to obtain the death penalty for a minor. Malvo said that he wanted to do what little he could for the families of the victims by letting the full story be told. In his two days of testimony, Malvo outlined detailed aspects of all the shootings.

Part of his testimony concerned Muhammad's complete multiphase plan. His plan consisted of three phases in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro areas. Phase one consisted of meticulously planning, mapping, and practicing their locations around the D.C. area. This way after each shooting, they would be able to quickly leave the area on a predetermined path, and move on to the next location. Muhammad's goal in Phase One was to kill six white people a day for 30 days. Malvo went on to describe how Phase One did not go as planned due to heavy traffic and the lack of a clear shot or getaway at locations.

Phase Two was meant to take place in Baltimore, Maryland. Malvo described how this phase was close to being implemented, but was not carried out. Phase Two was intended to begin by killing a pregnant woman by shooting her in the stomach. The next step would have been to shoot and kill a Baltimore police officer. Then, at the officer's funeral, they planned to detonate several improvised explosive devices complete with shrapnel. These explosives were intended to kill a large number of police, since many police would attend another officer's funeral.

The last phase was to take place during or shortly after Phase Two, which was to extort several million dollars from the United States government. This money would be used to finance a larger plan, to travel north to Canada. Along the way, they would stop in YMCAs and orphanages recruiting other impressionable young boys with no parents or guidance. Muhammad thought he could act as their father figure as he did with Malvo.

Once he recruited a large number of young boys and made his way up to Canada, he would begin their training. Malvo described how John Muhammad intended to train boys in weapons and stealth as he had been taught. Finally, after their training was complete, John Allen Muhammad would send them out across the United States to carry out mass shootings in many other cities, just as he had done in Washington and Baltimore. These attacks would be coordinated and be intended to send the country into chaos that had already been built up after 9/11."

May 30, 2006: Malvo is found guilty of all charges in Maryland and is sentenced to 6 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

May 6, 2008: Muhammad's attorneys file an appeal stating that Muhammad has brain damage and should not have been allowed to represent himself in Virginia, thus making his sentence void. This appeal was denied.

Muhammad is executed on November 10, 2009 and declared dead at 9:11 pm.

In 2017, Malvo's life sentence was overturned in Virginia due to an appeal. A Supreme Court ruling determined that life sentencing for juveniles was unconstitutional. A re-sentencing has not yet happened. This appeal does not affect the 6 life sentences that he will serve in Maryland.