Metro Briefs

REGION

Sniper seeks halt to death-row appeal

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad has written a letter to prosecutors seeking their assistance in putting an end to his legal appeals from death row.

In a two-page letter, Muhammad told the Virginia Attorney General’s Office that he is waiving all rights to appeal his 2003 conviction and death sentence for the sniper killings in 2002 that terrorized the Washington area.

Muhammad says in the letter that he has tried without success to stop efforts by his defense attorneys, and that he is counting on the attorney general to assist him.

“I’ve written to you all because I know you will make sure this letter will get to the right people — so that you can murder this innocent black man,” Muhammad wrote in the letter, dated April 23.

Muhammad wrote in the margin, “Muhammad innocent and on death row.” He does not state why he wants to end the appeal, but writes that he has informed his attorneys of his desires, and that any appeals they have filed “have been done against mine will.”

Last month, Muhammad’s appellate attorneys filed a petition asking a federal judge to overturn his conviction and death sentence in a Virginia court.

Small earthquake hits D.C. suburbs

A small earthquake shook the Washington area yesterday, and some residents reported feeling tremors, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

The earthquake occurred at 1:30 p.m., and the epicenter was about a mile from Annandale in Fairfax County. The Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 1.8.

Earthquakes with a magnitude of about 2.0 or less are usually called microearth-quakes, and about 1,000 occur around the world each day, said Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

Pharmacist sentenced for theft of medication

The former chief pharmacist for St. Elizabeths Hospital was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for stealing $95,000 of medication from the hospital.

Prosecutors said Raymond Jackson, 48, of Waldorf, Md., who pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court, sold the medications with his wife through a company they created. The stolen drugs were mostly psychotropic medications and medications for hypertension, not controlled substances.

Brenda Jackson was sentenced in Prince George’s County to six months for stealing medications from her workplace, Kaiser Permanente’s pharmacies.

Jackson also must serve 200 hours of community service and pay $95,000 in restitution to the District and more than $55,000 to the Kaiser Foundation.

VIRGINIA

FALMOUTH

Man suspected of killing family, self

Stafford County authorities said a man fatally shot his girlfriend, their two children and then himself, moments before a concerned relative stopped by to check on the family.

Police said Aaron Jackson, 24, used an assault rifle to kill Latasha Thomas, 23, Monday night in a mobile home they shared.

Jackson used a handgun to shoot the couple’s two children, 2-year-old Nicole Jackson and 18-month-old Aaron Jackson, then himself, police said.

WAYNESBORO

Rescued bald eagle to nest in New York

A bald eagle rescued after it collided with a tractor-trailer in James City County in December has a new home.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia transferred the adult female bird to the Greenburgh (N.Y.) Nature Center.

There are more than 500 active bald eagle nests in Virginia. As few as 80 pairs of eagles nest in New York.

The eagle is not fit to be released into the wild. It’s the second nonreleasable bald eagle the Waynesboro center has transferred to New York since April 21.

A tractor-trailer driver reported hitting the bird on Interstate 64 in December, shattering the truck’s windshield and breaking the bird’s wings.

RICHMOND

University shaken by gun scare

The University of Richmond was placed on lockdown yesterday afternoon while police searched for a man reportedly seen with a gun.

University spokeswoman Linda Evans and police said no shots were fired.

Ms. Evans said witnesses reported seeing a man with a handgun in Boatwright Memorial Library at about 2:50 p.m. She said the man was wearing a dark-colored shirt or jacket with the word “Sheriff” on the back, and maybe a fake beard. The man refused to identify himself to library workers.

Workers in a cafe within the library reported seeing the man changing clothes.

RICHMOND

Business supports highway taxes

Twenty-five of the state’s most influential business lobbying groups back new statewide taxes for highway upkeep and repair.

The coalition that includes retailing and construction groups yesterday recommended increasing the gasoline tax and the sales tax to pay soaring costs for maintenance.

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce statement provides support for Gov. Tim Kaine less than a week before he plans to unveil a transportation bill and call a June legislative session to consider it.

MARYLAND

ANNAPOLIS

Academy identifies dead midshipman

The U.S. Naval Academy released the name of a midshipman who was found unconscious in her room and pronounced dead a short time later.

First-year Midshipman Kristen Dickmann, 19, was found by classmates in her bed at the academy’s Bancroft Hall on Monday morning. Midshipman Dickmann, of Kennett Square, Pa., was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

The academy said the circumstances of her death are under review.

From wire dispatches and staff reports