The Justice Department turned over sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo to Virginia authorities Thursday to face separate murder trials'Muhammad in Prince William County and Malvo in Fairfax County.
In granting the case to Virginia prosecutors, the federal government dropped its own charges against them.
Malvo still is classified as a juvenile and would have to be waived to adult court by a judge'a process that could take weeks'meaning Muhammad probably would be tried first. He faces capital murder charges in the Oct. 9 shooting death of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, at a gas station outside Manassas. Malvo faces the same charges in the Oct. 14 slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Home Depot.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the much-anticipated decision at a dramatic news conference in which he invoked the names of the 10 people killed in last month's sniper shootings in the Washington D.C. area. He said he made the determination based on which jurisdictions had \the best law, the best facts and the best range of available penalties.'
Ashcroft and the Virginia prosecutors mentioned the state's experience in death penalty cases several times at the news conference and said Muhammad and Malvo deserved execution if they are convicted in the sniper shootings.
Thursday's announcement came after police in Atlanta said they had linked Muhammad, 41, and Malvo, 17, to the shooting death of a liquor store clerk. In all, the pair is suspected in 21 shootings in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Washington state, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana that killed 14 people.
Ashcroft did not say why the two suspects were being sent to different courts or give any account of the evidence against them that might account for his decision.
Sources said that as of late Thursday night, Muhammad had not invoked his right to an attorney and had not given investigators significant information.
