Life term for Washington sniper killings

Teenager Lee Boyd Malvo was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the sniper killings in Washington area in 2002, which left 10 people dead, including a cab driver of Indian origin Premkumar Walekar.

The 19-year-old was ordered to serve life in jail by Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush in a Manassas (Virginia) court a day after his accomplice John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death for his role in the killing spree. Malvo did not speak.

Muhammad used his sentencing hearing yesterday to claim innocence.

"Just like I said at the beginning, I had nothing to do with this, and I will say again, I had nothing to do with this," he said.

However, Circuit Judge LeRoy F Millette, accepting the recommendation of the jury to give Muhammad the death sentence, said that the evidence against him was overwhelming.

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In the case of Muhammad, the judge could, if he had wished, have reduced the sentence to life. In Malvo's case, Judge Roush had no leeway to change the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment because that is the minimum punishment allowed for capital murder.

Muhammad had apparently believed that he could escape a death sentence because he used Malvo, who looked up to him as a father, as the triggerman.