US: A 42-year-old Gulf War veteran was found guilty of murder, conspiracy and a weapons charge yesterday in one of 10 sniper killings that terrorized the Washington, D.C. area last year. He could get the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
John Muhammad stood as the verdicts were read after six and a half hours of deliberations, then sat impassively at the defence table in this seaside community, leaning his chin against his hand, as the jury was polled.
The same jury will also consider his punishment. The only possibilities are execution or life without parole.
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 Dean Meyers, who was killed on October 9th, 2002, outside Manassas, Virginia.
Each of the capital murder counts carries its own possibility of a death sentence or a life prison term.
One capital murder conviction found that Muhammad committed multiple murders, including Meyers plus one other person within a three-year period. The other murder charge 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.