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D.C. Sniper's Last Day
With his final appeal rejected by the Supreme Court on Monday, the mastermind behind the D.C. sniper attacks is scheduled to be executed Tuesday, barring a last-minute commutation of his sentence from Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. John Allen Muhammad, working with his young accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, killed 10 people in the D.C. metro area in 2002 in a series of sniper attacks that terrorized the populace and garnered national interest. The two were captured on October 24 of that year at a Maryland rest stop. Some relatives of Muhammad's victims plan on watching the execution, while Virginia activist group Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has planned statewide vigils. Muhammad's lawyers have appealed to Gov. Kaine for a commutation to life in prison on grounds of mental illness.
Demsdisorder
good
Aslanleon
Ordinarily I'm against the death penalty. When this guy goes, I'll feel bad about it. Not real bad, though. He looks like the poster boy for capital punishment.
newlifetweedy29
don't get me wrong i think he should pay for the lives he took, and maybe he do deserve the death sentence but, why are they so in a rush to kill him, WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT ARE ALREADY ON DEATH ROW AND HAVE BEEN FOR AT LEAST 20 YEARS, WHY HE HAVE TO JUMP IN LINE SO QUICK!!! THEY DID NOT KILL ALL THE OTHER SERIEL KILLERS THAT FAST, TEB BUNDEE,BTK KILLER, THEIR ARE MANY MORE PEOPLE THAT HAVE EVEN DONE WORST SO ,WHAT IS THE RUCH IN KILLING HIM THATS NOT FARE EITHER.!!!!
rapierwits
-It's too bad that we enforce the commandment against killing
by killing.
-It would be a much better investment, IMHO, to study guys like this, McVeigh, et al., imprison them for life, and get to the root of their psychosis.
Then we could work towards creating a society that leads by example and creates fewer monsters and prevents as many monstrosities.
nb-moe
Well Said. With all the money saved from excecution cases, one could complete these studies with money to spare.
Granite
I like your idea. But this is America and we are all about rounding up a posse and seeking revenge. And besides, if we gave them life in prison there is no guaranteeing that at some point they won't get accidently paroled.
The death penalty for this guy is all about revenge for not just the killings but for the terror he put people through.
But that guy in Cleveland with the 10 bodies in his house--he needs to be exterminated.
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n--Y--johnniegThis comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
alloypony
What makes Michaelslevinson , any deferent from the sniper ? His looks like the same bull$hit !
oliverckerr
michaelslevinson has a giant sense of words, world orders and word hors d'oeuvres. He writes books and creates memorable lyrics. He has never knowingly hurt anyone in his whole life.
Your first sentence, with a floating comma and clear misspelling is illiterate and nasty. The next sentence is pure fascist mastery. "His looks like the same bull$hit."
"His" what? um . . . His web site, a reference to the opening line in the post, "The following was lifted from the independent candidate for president web site, michaelslevinson.com."
Sooo your final sentence, coifed by an illiterate first is carefully crafted discouraging fbi fascist: His (web site) "looks like the same bull$hit." Translation: Levinson is an Independent candidate for president and his web site looks like every other politishinz' web site, asking for money. Therefore don't visit that web site.
There are PayPal links on the site, but it is laden with information; solutions to prob limbs; what we should do, how we should do it.
I'm adding a forum so after every article / essay the reader can comment or question, raise an issue. That seems to make more sense then a rope line. There isn't another political web site anywhere that holds a candle to michaelslevinson.com
What about 40 square miles in the desert for these violent killers, as described above. How come you fail to comment on that proposal? You fbi followers of your departed domestic counter intelligence leader j. edgarina, the fascist cross dressing pervert of dirt are transparent and boring.
michaelslevinson.com
manticore1223
Brother, you are still doing the "prob limb" thing. Don't even start about floating commas. Other than that, fire away.
newlifetweedy29
DAM I COULD NOT HAVE SAID THAT BETTER.!!!!
Demsdisorder
Alcida much
nortonclybourn
Alcida? What's that, some pomegranate seed supplement drink?
NanCMac
See ya, J. Mohammed.
cbeenthere
John Muhammad, a Muslim convert and Gulf War Vet, with a childhood history of severe abuse which was not allowed as evidence at his trial, known and tried as a terrorist because it was 2002 will be put to death for his terrible crimes in the State of Virginia. Despite every indication of severe mental illness, the State sought this penalty.
I am opposed to the death penalty and live in the Nation's Capital, where we voted to abolish it.
Holland
Yeah, uh, I'm against the death penalty. Normally. But Muhammad knew what he was getting himself into. In fact, he trained to kill these people, designing a car that could hide his sniping by popping out the license plate (or gas cap) to poke the barrel through from the trunk. That's what we call, uh, premeditation.
And there's a distinct difference between insanity and poor mental health. Everyone's got mental health issues, that's why being a psych is a good paying job. But assassinating 10 people because you have low self-esteem is no get-out-of-death-row free card. This man saw himself as some kind avenging warrior and so he's found himself where he is. Kind of Biblical in a Koran sort of way, don't you think?
cbeenthere
Yeah, uh, as I said I am a life long resident of WDC, and I was alive and an adult when these events took place, and it was awful and there was fear and there was great sadness for the victims. And it took a long time for law enforcement to apprehend him.
And yeah, uh, we all think of ourselves as avenging warrior, I remind myself I am one every minute of the day.
passin-thru
Tell you what, cb: On the morning of Friday, October 11, 2002, I was filling my gas tank at an Exxon station not far from my home. Another patron fell just as I turned off the pump. He turned out to be victim #10, Kenneth Bridges. It could just as easily have been me.
I am opposed to the death penalty. I have conducted appeals--pro bono--on behalf of death row inmates half a dozen times, and actually proved one man's innocence. I have participated in candlelight vigils not only at Jarratt, but around the country. At ten o'clock tonight, however, I shall be sitting in my home enjoying the relative peace. And I will not give John Allen Muhammad so much as a moment's thought.
cbeenthere
Thanks for sharing passin-thru-
And if you had not been a witness, then what?
cbeenthere
As long as we are sharing passin
I should add that in the District of Columbia we have no death penalty.
There was a moratorium in the State of Maryland on the death penalty at the time of his trial.
That the State of VA has another inmate who is on stay awaiting death, I hope VA has time to change the sheets on the table before you execute him.
newlifetweedy29
NO ONE WANT TO TAKE IN HEED THE BIG PROBLEM WE STILL HAVE WHITES THINK THEY HAVE ALL THE SINCE AND POWER BEHIND EVERYTHING, AND THAT THEY STILL DONT EXCEPT US BLACKS!!!!
passin-thru
Your snide "thanks for sharing" aside: Had I not been a witness, cb, I still would shed no tear for Muhammad's passing. Neither did I shed a tear for Ted Bundy, nor Timothy McVeigh. Nor a few others I could name. That doesn't mean I supported the penalty, or its implementation--then or now.
Yes, cb, we all know that DC has no death penalty. You have said so, many times. Those of us who practice law in DC, Maryland and Virginia already new it anyway. And you know that Maryland moratorium? Some say it was a contributory factor in Kathleen Townsend's 2002 loss to Robert Ehrlich in the governor's race. Townsend being Glendening's Lieutenant Governor when he initiated it, you know.
Just for the record, your equally snide, "I hope VA has time to change the sheets on the table before you execute him," missed its target. You see, I'm an active opponent of the death penalty. I march, attend vigils, write op-eds, and even defend death row inmates pro bono. I don't simply post to message boards, as some do.
manticore1223
Passin-Thru. Ignore CB. Thanks for your perspective. CB's just a bitter relic of the 70's. Don't pay her any mind.
cbeenthere
PS passin
Too bad you don't post more often, perhaps the conversation could be elevated beyond the blood lust that permeates discussions such as this one.
manticore1223
What is with this "I'm against the death penalty, except...." BS? You either are or you aren't. You can't cherry pick the cases where it suddenly becomes acceptable.
cbeenthere
passin-thru-
We all are aren't we? I thought I did pretty well in light of the fact that I was sandwiched between two posts I felt were dismissive. I question how it is that one individual is singled out for capital punishment, which is what it ultimately amounts to, especially in your case.
As far as MD politics, I don't pay it much mind. However, I was familiar with an individual who sat on the panel that was debating the issue at the time of the moratorium in MD. This person had a long and successful career in law, and had done an about face over this career, and is quite active as you are. I respected and admired that.
Living in a tri-state area, where two states were not participating in capital punishment at the time of judgment of the convicted caused me to wonder why the state of VA ultimately gained control of this case.
Sincerely,I am sorry that you had an intimate involvement with this case.
woodnut
Animals like this is why the death penalty exists.
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n--Y--johnniegpassin-thru
Gov. Kaine declined to intervene.
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n--Y--johnniegDownriver
This guy is as much a domestic terrorist as Major Hasan, Eric Rudolph, and Scott Roeder and the sooner all of them join their brother Tim McVeigh in Hell the better.
Sajwert
No matter how one feels about this man and what he did which is horrendous, there is something really awful about contemplating his coming death this evening. It isn't like someone dying of a disease in a hospital or home bed. It isn't like a soldier going into a firefight greatly outnumbered. It isn't like a killer taking the life of someone.
We, this nation, are waiting, and watching, and for some who will be there in person to view his slow descent into oblivion. I don't like this form of justice. I don't believe taking the life of another in this way (any way, but this is my subject now) makes any sense. I also feel as if I have been reluctantly and unhappily dragged into being a part of this, and I don't feel good about it right now.
cbeenthere
Sajwert-
Nicely and kindly put.
ThinkAgain
He deserves this. He deserves worse. But killing is only acceptable in self defense. He's no longer a threat and there's no evidence that this is a deterent. It's justice but it's immoral.
jaydeekay
You and I agree 100% on this issue.
MaCaCa
Veritas
newlifetweedy29
HOW DO U KNOW WHAT HE DESERVE ARE U GOD AND WHAT MAKES YOUR SMALL, SIMPLE MINDED,IN THE BOX THINKING TO HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT JUSTICE FOR HIM SHOULD BE THIS FAST. NO I DONT LIKE HIM BUT WRONG IS WRONG AND RIGHT IS RIGHT ALL I AM SAYING IS WHATS THE RUSH.
Aranxa
You death penalty supporters are barbaric. No one has the right to take a life. Proving this point by imposing the death penalty on its violators is the ultimate in hypocrisy. Life without parole is very workable, and humane. Also, for you retributionists, it is probably more of a punishment to the non insane guilty. The insane guilty require life without parole and treatment. It also avoids the possibility of an innocent person being put to death, the ultimate in state sponsored horror outside of war.
I know of what I speak. My dearest relative was killed by her husband. Continuing the hate and evil by avenging her death by the death penalty would have made me as dark and ugly as her killer. We are better than that.
Demsdisorder
i bet you support abortion
newlifetweedy29
I BET YOUR MOM WANTED TO HAVE ONE WITH YOU BUT, U WOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE WITH MY VOTE CAUSE NO I DONT SUPPORT ABORTION EITHER.!!!
Garrison
Want punishment? Put him in a cell with Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.
winston1
Garrison Want punishment and death give him obama's healthcare. As soon as he reaches 65 he will be in the death panel room with Ezekiel Emanuel.
Demsdisorder
toshea.... well done
newlifetweedy29
WHO MICHEAL SLEVINSON SHOULD BE IN THE RING WITH.!!!!!
Iam511
Want punishment? Put him in a cell with Hillary Clinton and Al Gore
GateKeeper
does any know the cost to execute a prisoner?..
..compared to the cost to HOUSED a lifer? (one who is given a life term in prison)..
..to spent tax payers money to study a BAD seed is senseless?
Some PPL emotional and mental psychosis are destined to be EVIL.. why do you need a study what is already known?..
..not ONE injection is going to "CURE" those who are inept.. living with mental osmosis..
Demsdisorder
its worth every penny in this case
newlifetweedy29
YOUR THINKING IS NOT WORTH A PENNY. HA HA
passin-thru
Hard fiscal facts are not easy to find. However, in 2003, Kansas found the estimated cost of a death penalty case to be 70% greater than a comparable non-death penalty case. NB: Kansas has not applied the death penalty since the 1976 resumption of capital punishment in the US.
In June 2008, California found that the cost to maintain and house death row inmates was about $90,000.00 per year greater than housing inmates sentenced to life without parole.
It also has been shown that the greater costs associated with death penalty cases are incurred primarily before and during trial, not post-conviction. In other words, if all avenues of appeal were abolished, a capital case still would cost more than a comparable non-capital case.
GateKeeper
@ passin-thru
Thanks for your effort response..
golfnut
Let him live and lets keep him in a cell for about 40 years and feed him 3 squares a day and give him a cell phone to make porn calls and perhaps in the same cell as Chas. Manson so they can exchange memos of their good deeds. Better still place him in a room with the victims families and see if they exchange any kind words. If he is kept alive for 40 or more years it will only cost taxpayers about a million bucks. Think about it.
XavierOnassis
Perhaps it would be more humane to release him into the custody of The Beast, with you personally responsible for his behavior. After all, he has had it so tough.
Thank you.
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