State vows to put Malvo on trial again

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Virginia prosecutors pledged yesterday to put Lee Boyd Malvo on trial for his life again, moments after the teenager was formally sentenced to life in prison for the murder of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, one of 10 persons killed in the 2002 Washington-area sniper attacks.

Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert, speaking to reporters after the sentencing, said he plans to pursue another capital murder case against Malvo if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds that juveniles are eligible for the death penalty.

The Supreme Court ruling is expected this year or next, which could mean another death-penalty trial for Malvo, 19, as early as the summer of 2005.

“Although [Malvo] was 17 at the time, he certainly had free will,” said Mr. Ebert, who wants to try Malvo for the same murder that John Allen Muhammad, his conspirator, was sentenced to death for on Tuesday.

Muhammad fatally shot Dean Harold Meyers, 53, on Oct. 11, 2002, at a Manassas gas station.

Outside the Chesapeake courthouse, family members of victims believed killed in a cross-country shooting spree by the snipers said Malvo’s sentence — life in prison without parole — was too lenient.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Kwang Szuszka, the sister of Hong Im Ballenger, 45, who was fatally shot Sept. 23, 2002, in Baton Rouge, La., a week before the Washington-area shootings started.

She said Malvo, who was heard laughing about the shooting spree on his taped confession, deserves to be executed like Muhammad, the mastermind.

“They committed these crimes together. They should have the death penalty together,” she said as a steady rain fell on the post-sentencing news conference.

Other members of victims’ families agreed.

“He should have gotten the death penalty because he is as responsible as Muhammad,” said Vijay Walekar, brother of Premkumar A. Walekar, 54, who was fatally shot while pumping gas Oct. 3, 2002, in Aspen Hill.

Bob Meyers, brother of Dean Meyers, said the jury was wrong to spare Malvo’s life and that the courts have “unfinished business” with the teenage sniper.

Malvo was a juvenile when he and Muhammad were arrested and charged in the shooting rampage. Prosecutors said they sighted their unsuspecting victims with a Bushmaster .223-caliber assault rifle from the trunk of their 1990 Chevrolet Caprice. They are also implicated in nine earlier shootings in other states that killed five persons.

Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr., who won the conviction and life sentence against Malvo, said he planned to prosecute Muhammad for the same capital case even though the elder sniper is already slated for execution.

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