D.C. sniper claims co-conspirators, more shootings

** FILE ** In a Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004, photo, convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo enters a courtroom in the Spotsylvania Circuit Court in Spotsylvania, Va. Malvo, convicted in the deadly sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington area in 2002, says two others planned to participate in the attacks but backed out. (AP Photo/Mike Morones, File)

Story Topics

• Other
• Lee Boyd Malvo
• John Allen Muhammad
• William Shatner
• Neil Blumberg

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RICHMOND (AP) — Convicted D.C. snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad were supposed to have had help carrying out their deadly attacks, and they may have been involved in more shootings than authorities suspected, according to an interview with actor William Shatner that airs Thursday.

In a telephone call from a southwest Virginia prison, Malvo told Mr. Shatner two others planned to help with the killings but they backed out and at least one was killed.

Also, Dr. Neil Blumberg, a psychiatrist who worked with Malvo, said Malvo confessed to at least 42 shootings during the killing spree, which culminated with 13 shootings and 10 deaths over a three-week span in 2002 that terrorized the Washington region.

But when asked about his psychiatrist’s claims that he and Muhammad had co-conspirators, Malvo originally denied it. Once pressured, he said someone in Arizona helped them get weapons and explosives, and a man in New York was supposed to help them get out of the country “when it’s all said and done.” He said both later backed out of plans to help with the shootings.

“There was supposed to be three to four snipers with silenced weapons,” said Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings. “In this way we could do a lot more damage along the entire Eastern Seaboard.”

When asked about the number of shootings, Malvo rattled off states where he claimed he and Muhammad shot people but doesn’t give an exact number.

The one-hour “Confessions of the D.C. Sniper With William Shatner: An Aftermath Special” premieres at 10 p.m. Thursday on A&E.

Malvo and Muhammad have been linked to as many as 27 shootings resulting in 17 deaths in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

Malvo’s statements have been inconsistent in the past, and authorities have cast doubt on some of his reported confessions since he was sentenced to life in prison. Muhammad was executed in Virginia last year.

Malvo’s lawyer during his trial, Timothy Sullivan, did not immediately return a phone call Thursday seeking comment.

Dr. Blumberg said Malvo told him Muhammad made him shoot two of the co-conspirators once they backed out of the plan. Malvo told Mr. Shatner that only one of the men was killed and that Muhammad did it.

Dr. Blumberg also said Malvo told him there was a third co-conspirator who was supposed to have joined them in Washington but did not. Malvo does not mention that person during the interview with Mr. Shatner.

The sniper-style attacks all but paralyzed the nation’s capitol, as people were shot at random while going about their everyday life — pumping gas, buying groceries, and for one young boy, going to school. The shooters used a high-powered rifle, firing from the trunk of a modified Chevy Caprice until they were tracked down at a Maryland rest stop.

Authorities involved with the massive hunt and prosecution of the pair are reluctant to say how many shootings they may have been involved in as they drove across the country to the nation’s capital.

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