Tags:
Journalism of Courage
John A Muhammad,whose shooting spree in the fall of 2002 left at least 10 dead,was executed at a Virginia state prison on Tuesday night.
The execution closed a case that fixated the region ever since local residents were gunned down while doing the most mundane tasks,like shopping or pumping gas.
On Monday,the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the case of Muhammad,48,who was sentenced to die for the killing of Dean H Meyers,an engineer who was shot in the head at a gasoline station in Manassas,Virginia.
Meyers was one of 10 people killed in Maryland,Virginia and Washington over three weeks in October 2002. Muhammads accomplice,Lee B Malvo,who was 17 at the time,was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
On Tuesday afternoon,Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia said he would not stay the scheduled execution.
I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts, Kaine said in a written statement.
The nature of Muhammads shootings left people fearful and led many to remain indoors as much as possible to avoid becoming a target.
While the Supreme Court did not comment in refusing to hear Muhammads appeal,three justices objected to the relative haste accompanying the execution.
But because Virginia scheduled the execution for Tuesday,the judicial process was rushed,Justice Stevens said in a statement joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
