Meet the man who prosecuted the D.C. sniper

MANASSAS | Virginia prosecutor Paul B. Ebert knows how to land the big ones.

His office is lined with pictures of his adventures on the water - an 800-pound blue marlin hooked off the coast of Australia, a 260-pound halibut, citations for tuna, and other trophies.

But he’s even more dangerous in the courtroom.

Virginia’s death row is lined with killers the Prince William County commonwealth’s attorney has sent to their demise. Next up: John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the D.C. sniper attacks that left 10 dead in the Washington area in 2002.

Related TWT article: Court refuses to halt sniper’s execution

Mr. Ebert, 72, has sent more men to the death chamber than any other prosecutor in Virginia - more than a dozen, with Muhammad and three others awaiting execution. He calls it a “dubious distinction.”

He says he reserves the death penalty for the “worst of the worst.” Muhammad, who with teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo methodically picked off people over three weeks in October 2002, fits the bill, Mr. Ebert said.

“He caused more hardship and heartache to really good people than most cases will see,” said Mr. Ebert, recalling the pain of victims’ family members who testified during Muhammad’s 2003 trial. “Hopefully, his death will give them some closure and some solace.”

In true Ebert style, he wasted no time letting the snipers know they had crossed into dangerous territory when they fatally shot Vietnam veteran Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station. There were no suspects, but Mr. Ebert told reporters that he would seek the death penalty if given the chance.

Not long after Muhammad and Malvo were captured while napping at a Maryland rest stop, Mr. Ebert got the call from then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who offered Mr. Ebert first crack at Muhammad because of his record at getting death convictions.

So why is it that so many killers in Prince William County end up on death row?

Mr. Ebert says so many killers in Prince William County end up on death row because of good police work and a sympathetic jury pool of young families in one of the nation’s most affluent suburbs.

Others say it has more to do with his folksy, charming demeanor.

“His good-ole boy persona is very effective because it endears him to jurors,” said James Willett, who has worked alongside Mr. Ebert for 22 years. “They’re not seeing a lawyer who’s looking down his nose at them. He’s talking to them one-on-one.”

Prosecutors often rely on co-defendants or jailhouse snitches for testimony, though defense attorneys argue they aren’t the most credible witnesses. Mr. Ebert will shove his hands deep into his pockets, stroll up to the jury and say, “You know, folks, sometimes to catch a skunk you have to pet a skunk.”

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