Washington sniper faces death penalty

A jury has found Gulf War veteran John Muhammad guilty of two counts of capital murder in relation to last year's sniper shootings…

A jury has found Gulf War veteran John Muhammad guilty of two counts of capital murder in relation to last year's sniper shootings that killed 10 people and terrorised the Washington, D.C., area.

Muhammad was convicted of one of the killings and of a conspiracy and weapons charge. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

The 42-year-old former soldier stood as the verdicts were read after six-and-a-half hours of deliberation and then sat impassively at the defence table, leaning his chin on his hand.

Muhammad was convicted on all charges - two capital murder counts, a charge of conspiracy and one of using a firearm in committing a felony - in the death of Mr Dean Meyers, who was shot dead on October 9th, 2002, outside Manassas, Virginia.

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Each of the capital murder counts carries a possible death sentence or a life prison term. The jury must also decide Muhammad's sentence on the conspiracy count, which could bring a prison term of 10 years and a fine of up to $100,000. They will not decide the penalty on the weapons charge, which carries a mandatory three-year prison sentence.

One capital murder conviction found Muhammad committed multiple murders, including Meyers and one other person, within a three-year period. The other found that Muhammad committed murder as an act of terrorism, a violation of Virginia's new anti-terror law, enacted after the September 11th, 2001, attacks.

Thirteen seemingly random shootings, including 10 killings, created a climate of fear that pervaded Washington and its suburbs in Virginia and Maryland.