John Lee Malvo Tells Investigators He was Triggerman in Some KillingsNovember 10, 2002
FAIRFAX, Va. — John Lee Malvo has confessed to pulling the trigger in some of the Beltway Sniper attacks.
The 17-year-old admitted during a seven-hour interrogation that he shot FBI analyst Linda Franklin on Oct. 14, and provided details about many of the other shootings during the three weeks that terrorized the Washington, D.C., suburbs and kept the rest of the nation rapt, Fox News Channel has confirmed.
In all, Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, 41, have been accused of shooting 19 people, killing 13 of them. Two other shootings are under investigation. They are charged with shootings in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and are also accused of shootings in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.
Malvo said the shootings were well planned and involved scouting missions, and that he and his partner behaved like soldiers, one serving as a lookout and the other as the shooter. The pair used two-way radios to communicate, and if traffic or other conditions weren't acceptable, they would not shoot. Sources said Malvo also said the pair moved around to create confusion and watched news coverage of their crimes.
Malvo was chatty and even boastful during the interview but refused to talk about Muhammad — or to even mention his name, instead using the term "we."
Muhammad, who is facing capital murder charges for the murder of a man as he pumped gas at a Manassas gas station, refused police efforts to interview him in Prince William County, remaining silent for hours and refusing to give his name to a booking clerk. Reports say the former Army sergeant held the younger man in his thrall, dictating the tiniest minutiae of his life.
Michael S. Arif, appointed to head Malvo's defense team, has said he will work to suppress any statements Malvo made during his session with federal and local officials.
"If in fact those are the statements Mr. Malvo made, there will be a motion to suppress those statements, as certain as the sun rises in the east," Arif told The Washington Post.
Malvo and Arif met for 2 1/2 hours Saturday, the lawyer told The Post. A phone message left at Arif's Springfield office was not immediately returned Saturday night.
Todd G. Petit, Malvo's appointed guardian, said he went to police headquarters at 6 p.m. Thursday and asked that questioning be halted. Petit said Friday a police commander agreed to pass on his request, then ordered him to leave the building.
The lawyer appointed to represent Muhammad, Peter D. Greenspun, said the interrogation of Malvo was part of a plot to give authorities several hours of access.
"All of this was . . . orchestrated so that they would get them to Virginia late in the afternoon when they couldn't get to court," he said.
"When little Johnny gets pulled out of school and the police question him about something everybody is outraged . . . but they forget about that when it's Mr. Malvo."
Efforts to reach Robert F. Horan Jr., the Fairfax County prosecutor charged by Attorney General John Ashcroft with prosecuting the teenager, were not successful Saturday night. Calls to his home and office were not answered.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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