# John Allen Muhammad sentenced to death **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022 "2003-11-24T16:04:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/1 "2003-11-24T16:04:44Z")
> [@](#): > > [WTOP](http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=333&sid=141735) > VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A jury decided Monday that John Allen Muhammad should be executed for masterminding the sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington area for three weeks last fall. > > Jurors sent word they had reached a decision after deliberating five hours over two days. Jurors convicted the 42-year-old Army veteran of murder a week ago and then heard testimony in the sentencing phase. > > The jury’s recommendation is not final. Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. can reduce the punishment to life in prison without parole when Muhammad is formally sentenced, but Virginia judges rarely take such action. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/2 "2003-11-24T16:07:32Z")
Yep. That’s why Virginia got him first. Now do they go through all the other trials, too? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/3 "2003-11-24T16:07:48Z")
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. I wonder, do they need someone to throw the switch, or push in the plunger or whatever it is they do? I’ll take off work that day. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/4 "2003-11-24T20:17:30Z")
Thanks for playing, Moe. Buh bye. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/5 "2003-11-24T21:10:57Z")
I don’t imagine anyone is really surprised at this, are they? Why else did Virginia get him rather than Maryland? By the way, MD’s esteemed Governor, Robert Erlich, called a halt on the Death Penalty moratorium almost as soon as he was sworn in. Whatta guy. ---
**Author:** ![Rib\_Eye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Rib\_Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rib_Eye)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/6 "2003-11-24T22:46:14Z")
All Washington D.C. area residents who had to duck their heads while pumping gas last year should get free whacks with a ball-peen hammer before they snuff him. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/7 "2003-11-24T23:12:48Z")
It death by firing squad, right? ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/8 "2003-11-25T02:24:38Z")
I was watching CNN when the jury was deliberating on his obvious guilt and one of the correspondents said that John Ashcroft had stepped in and given Virginia first dibs at him because they were more likely to sentence him to death. **Rib Eye** , that’s a great line! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/9 "2003-11-25T02:28:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rib Eye \* > \*\*All Washington D.C. area residents who had to duck their heads while pumping gas last year should get free whacks with a ball-peen hammer before they snuff him. \*\* I would rather not, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/10 "2003-11-25T03:50:00Z")
We kill him. Because he killed, and we’re better than that. Lovely logic. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/11 "2003-11-25T03:58:59Z")
Something I’ve never understood either, Bricker. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/12 "2003-11-25T04:08:39Z")
One juror didn’t understand, either. But that same juror later decided that if he didn’t vote for the death penalty, and ole JM got loose… that JM would kill again. It seems likely, based on the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/13 "2003-11-25T04:10:26Z")
So then what? Just let him sit in a room for several decades and let him go because he is “rehabilitated”? Some people can never be. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/14 "2003-11-25T05:08:43Z")
I was nervous for a bit, since the jury seemed headed for a deadlock, but they came around in the end. The sooner that BASTARD is killed the better. Let’s hope the appeals don’t take too long. ---
**Author:** ![Ray\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ray\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ray_Walker)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/15 "2003-11-25T05:14:33Z")
It’s a shame they gave him the death penalty. Life in prison with no parole is a far, far worse sentence, at least in my opinion. I think he’s getting off easy. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/16 "2003-11-25T07:03:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\*We kill him. > > Because he killed, and we’re better than that. > > Lovely logic. \*\* You don’t think it’s morally better to kill a murderer than to kill an innocent man? You don’t think it’s morally better for the state to kill a man who has been duly tried and convicted by a jury of his peers than for one man to kill people just because he thinks they need killing? I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/17 "2003-11-25T07:33:44Z")
No, some folk just don’t subscribe to “an eye for an eye”-style justice, or even “an eye for seventeen eyes.” Is everyone forgetting that, according to all known evidence and the trial proceedings, _John Allen Muhammad did not actually kill anyone_? He may have had Svengali-like control over Malvo, but he never pulled a trigger, and was not convicted for doing so. Slate had a somewhat interesting article that points out how the prosecution didn’t even really try to prove the “brainwashing”, just let the jury fill in the blanks themselves. [(Slate article: “[Defendant’s] argument: You can’t convict Muhammad of manipulating Malvo without showing that manipulation.” The jury disagreed.)](http://slate.msn.com/id/2091325/) ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/18 "2003-11-25T08:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Master Wang-Ka \* > \*\*One juror didn’t understand, either. But that same juror later decided that if he didn’t vote for the death penalty, and ole JM got loose… that JM would kill again. > > It seems likely, based on the evidence. \*\* Likely? You think it likely that in the absence of the death penalty that the defendent would ever be released from prison? :dubious: Even if successive life sentences were not handed down (unlikely) and the defendent somehow was eligible for parole, legislatures have shown a willingness to pass laws to keep specific murderers behind bars until they die. Then again, I’m a foreigner so I can’t claim to fathom the opinions of many Americans when it comes to capital punishment. Different cultures, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/19 "2003-11-25T10:52:09Z")
> [@](#): > > You don’t think it’s morally better to kill a murderer than to kill an innocent man? > > You don’t think it’s morally better for the state to kill a man who has been duly tried and convicted by a jury of his peers than for one man to kill people just because he thinks they need killing? I know you’re replying to **Bricker** , but I’d say no, not in the slightest. So twelve people think he needs killing? This is indeed why he was tried in Virginia, ditto for Malvo. Although as **Jeff Olsen** ’s quote says, “The jury’s recommendation is not final. Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. can reduce the punishment to life in prison without parole when Muhammad is formally sentenced, but Virginia judges rarely take such action.” ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022/20 "2003-11-25T11:06:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kasuo \* > \*\*So then what? Just let him sit in a room for several decades and let him go because he is “rehabilitated”? > > Some people can never be. \*\* OK well then have a real life sentence. Let the fucker look at a wall for the rest of his life. Exercising alone and thinking about how he pissed his life away. Would you rather be dead than that punishment? I know I would. Death is quick, painless and makes society seem like it’s about vengeance rather than punishment. Make the fucker the loneliest person in the world and keep him like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-allen-muhammad-sentenced-to-death/215022.md?page=2)