# They caught the sniper!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 24, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676 "2002-10-24T13:22:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/81 "2002-10-25T20:31:18Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor_  
> This wasn’t a genius working alone.
> 
> This wasn’t a foreign terrorist network.
> 
> THIS WAS TWO DIPSTICKS LIVING IN A USED VAN!

**Zyada** did a great job explaining why it took so long to catch these guys, the only thing I want to add is that everyone was on the lookout for a white van. I can recall looking everywhere for a white van. A blue caprice would have passed by unseen. I’m willing to bet that by the time this guy did the shooting at Seven Corners, the witnesses were all trained to look for a white van and not a blue caprice.

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**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/82 "2002-10-26T02:37:22Z")

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I agree with you, brujo. I live in the DC metro area, and I was very concerned when Linda Franklin was killed at the Home Depot at Seven Corners. I shop at some of those stores there. Anyway, all I heard about was a white van. I never heard anything about a blue Caprice until after those monsters were caught.

It seems to me that those two monsters handled the shooting part really well, but their plan broke down in a big way when they decided to call on the hotline and demand a ransom.

I hope that Virginia gets jurisdiction in this case.

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**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/83 "2002-10-26T20:17:41Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Muldoon III \*  
> \*\*Wow, a mere 10 miles from where I live. It’s a small world after all. \*\*

I live in a small city up by the Canadian border in WA state. The two of them lived here for a few months…Dec 2001-Feb 2002 or so. The young man attended the same school that **moonchilde** and I graduated from.

It is a creepy feeling…they could just as easily have started this HERE, in my home town. Which I see has already been covered, but…well, it is just so WEIRD.

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ShibbOleth \*  
> \*\*A report I read this morning indicated that they are not actually related. Said that they were assumed to be related and that Muhammed often introduced Malvo(sp?) as his stepson. Went on to say that Malvo was the son of a friend of Muhammed’s, that they met at a homeless shelter, and that the boy seemed to really worship him, according to some witnesses from a coffeeshop where they used to hang out and play chess. The relationship was also described as “svengali” like. \*\*

The coffeeshop referenced here is in my hometown, Bellingham. I walked past it yesterday. I think the shelter mentioned is here too, or at least they lived in the homeless shelter here.

It is just…scary.

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