The Washington Snipers

Overview

Two black Americans, John Allen Muhammad, 42, a veteran of the Gulf War in 1991, and his stepson John Lee Malvo, 17, were convicted in 2004 of being the ‘Washington sniper’, who had been terrorizing America over a period of three weeks. Police found a gun in the suspects car - the criminals had supposedly shot it 13 times. Ten innocent people were killed, and three were wounded. Police also found a scope and a tripod. The criminals probably shot the victims without even leaving the car, as it has an opening in the trunk that allows people to lie hidden and shoot the victims. Experts unanimously agreed that it was John Allen Muhammad who was the force of the criminal tandem. What were the motives of these men, and was one ‘guiltier’ than the other? Psychologists suppose that John Allen Muhammad is non compos mentis, but find it difficult to explain why the stepson acted in the same way…