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John Allen Muhammad Touted As Family Man

Posted on: Thursday, 20 November 2003, 06:00 CST

Jurors who will decide whether convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad deserves the death penalty watched a video Thursday of him playing with his young children and encouraging them to take their first steps.

"You can walk. Now go ahead and walk to daddy," he said as one of his daughters took her first steps.

Muhammad appeared glum as he watched the tape, alternately wearing a frown and hanging his head.

The tape was played immediately after Muhammad's sister, Aurolyn Williams, described the difficult circumstances of the family's early childhood.

Their mother died of breast cancer when Muhammad was 3 years old. The mother was in constant pain because they could not afford pain medication for her.

"She'd lay there and cry and moan. John would sleep in bed with my mom," Williams said. "He loved his mom. That was our backbone. That was all we had. He was like a cat with kittens. If my mom made a step, John moved."

Muhammad's brother, Edward Williams, also testified in support of Muhammad.

"I never saw a change in him," Edward Williams said, describing periodic visits his brother made, as recently as the summer of 2002. He admitted under cross-examination that his wife and son had to tell John Muhammad and his alleged accomplice in the sniper shootings, Lee Boyd Malvo, to stop shooting rifles in nearby woods on that visit.

The defense is trying to convince a jury that Muhammad's life should be spared. Earlier this week, the same jury convicted him of capital murder for his role in last year's sniper spree.

Friends of Muhammad described him Thursday as a family man who loved his children but went through a change for the worse when he lost custody of them.

The Rev. Al Archer, director of a homeless shelter and mission in Bellingham, Wash., said he admired the way Muhammad cared for his children. Muhammad and his three children stayed at the shelter for two weeks in August 2001 until the children were returned to Muhammad's ex-wife.

"I know that this man's been found guilty of crimes that are indescribable. I still consider him to be a friend," said Archer.

Nathan Perry, a friend of Muhammad in Tacoma, Wash., said Muhammad changed after the children were returned to Mildred Muhammad's custody.

"Sometimes he seemed like he wasn't all there," Perry said.

The jury in Muhammad's trial will not be allowed to consider whether the victims of last year's sniper spree suffered from psychological torture as it weighs whether to impose the death penalty, a judge ruled Thursday before testimony began.

Virginia law allows a jury to impose a death penalty only if it finds at least one of two "aggravating factors": whether Muhammad would present a future danger or whether his crimes showed "vileness."

The law defines vileness specifically: torture, aggravated battery or depravity of mind all constitute vileness.

Prosecutors argued Thursday that the jury should be able to consider whether last year's sniper spree constituted a form of psychological torture.

"People were faced with considering pending death" every time they left their homes during the three-week spree last October, said prosecutor Richard Conway.

But Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. agreed with defense lawyers who said there was no evidence of torture. Therefore, the written instructions that will be given to the jury when it begins deliberations later Thursday or Friday will make no mention of torture.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Wednesday in the sentencing hearing, while the defense was expected to finish Thursday. Muhammad was convicted on two capital murder charges Monday following a five-week trial.

Malvo is on trial in nearby Chesapeake on capital murder charges.

Iran Brown, the only child shot during the spree, testified in Malvo's trial Thursday that he thought he was going to die when he was hit by a bullet as he arrived at Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Md., on Oct. 7, 2002.

"My aunt drove me to school. I got out of the car, and I got shot," Brown said, speaking in an emotionless, flat tone.

"I heard a big bang and then I fell to the ground. Then I felt a burn," Brown said, pointing to his left side.

Brown, 13 at the time, called for his aunt, got back into her car and she drove him to a nearby hospital.

"I couldn't really breathe, so I rolled down the window to get some air," he said. "Then I told her I loved her."

When prosecutor Raymond Morrogh asked Brown why he uttered those words, he replied, "I thought I was going to die."

Tanya Brown testified that when her nephew told her he had been shot, she initially thought he was playing a prank.

"I knew when I saw the hole (the bullet made in his shirt) that he was telling the truth," she said.

She described frantically driving to the hospital, screaming at other drivers as she tried to maneuver around them.

Malvo's attorneys don't dispute that he took part in the sniper attacks, but they contend he was brainwashed by Muhammad and is innocent by reason of insanity.

On Wednesday, a weeping former lover and a frightened ex-wife painted contrasting portraits of Muhammad for the jury, which must decide whether he should die or spend life in prison for masterminding the Washington-area sniper shootings and the murder of Dean Harold Meyers on Oct. 9, 2002, in Manassas.

Mildred Muhammad testified that her ex-husband said he would kill her as their marriage dissolved and the two fought over custody of their three children.

"He always says he is going to destroy my life," she said.

Mary Marez told of her love affair with Muhammad in the late 1990s. "John is a very considerate person, the strongest, most generous person I have ever known," she said, weeping periodically.

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AP writers Matthew Barakat, Sonja Barisic and Adrienne Schwisow contributed to this report.

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