Tonight The DC Sniper Will Be Executed

Has it really been seven years ago when Muhammad and Malvo seven years shot and killed 10 people over a three-week span that terrorized the Washington region? Each new report would bring memories of my hometown rushing back. How easily it could have been for me to have been one of those places where the shootings had occurred. How easily one of my friends could have been one of the victims.

Born John Allen Williams, Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam in 1987 and later changed his surname to Muhammad. Drawings by Malvo describe the murders as part of a "jihad" (Arabic for "struggle in the way of God"). If you remember we were told that we had nothing to fear from domestic terrorists so they were careful not to label these murders as acts of domestic terrorism. (Sound familiar?)

As a member of the Nation of Islam, Muhammad helped provide security for the "Million Man March" in 1995, but Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan has publicly distanced himself and his organization from Muhammad's crimes. Muhammad moved out of the country and spent time with his children in Antigua around 1999, apparently engaging in credit card and immigration document fraud activities. It was during this time that he became close with Lee Boyd Malvo, who later acted as his partner in the killings. John Allen Williams changed his name to John Allen Muhammad in October 2001.

After his arrest, authorities also claimed that Muhammad admitted that he admired and modeled himself after Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and approved of the September 11 attacks. One of Malvo's psychiatric witnesses testified in his trial that Muhammad had indoctrinated him into believing that the proceeds of the extortion attempt would be used to begin a new nation of only young, "pure" black people somewhere in Canada. Oddly enough, Muhammad witnessed the Mark Essex shootout live on television when he was 12.

At Muhammad's trial, the prosecutor claimed that the rampage was part of a plot to kill his ex-wife and regain custody of his children, but the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support this argument.

Today the courts will carry out their sentence and execute John Allen Muhammed.

Attorneys for John Allen Muhammad asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to stop his execution. The Supreme Court denied the appeal.

Muhammad's lawyers also have asked Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for clemency, saying Muhammad is mentally ill and should not be executed.

In a 40-minute video to Kaine last month, attorneys, mental health experts and witnesses describe Muhammad's illness. Muhammad's attorneys claim he has brain damage, brain dysfunction and neurological deficits, as well as psychotic and delusional behavior, exacerbated by the Gulf War Syndrome he suffered as a sergeant in the first Iraq war.

They also submitted an interview with a juror who said that she would not have sentenced Muhammad to death if she had known of his severe mental illness.

The Supreme Court has banned executing the insane or the mentally disabled, measured by an IQ less than 70, established by the age of 18, and the lack of basic adaptive skills.

Like Virginia's current governor, Kaine, I am also Catholic and as I said before it is a crisis of faith for me. Do accept church dogma that ALL life is sacred and pray that we do not put this man to death? On the other hand do I ask about the souls of those who died at his hand and wonder if this is one of those render unto Cesar moments because the death penalty is the law? Is it an eye for an eye moment and if so what does that make of me? Does Governor Kaine feel conflicted on this matter? Does he choose to deny clemency because he feels it is morally right for us to execute this man or is he looking towards re-election and realizing that doing anything other than allowing the execution to go forward would prevent him from being re-elected? On what side of the debate do I stand? Why do I continue to straddle between the two divergent views on the death penalty?

So tonight the DC Sniper, John Allen Muhammad, will be executed. Under Virginia law, an inmate is allowed to choose the method by which he or she will be put to death—either lethal injection or the electric chair. Because Muhammad declined to select a method, by law he will receive a lethal injection.

Edward Nathaniel Bell Becomes Virginia's 103 Execution

This seems to be a week of sad posts. My brother Bill is a former Winchester, Virginia policeman. This is why the murder of Sgt. Richard Timbrook hit too close to home for our family. They say Winchester is a city, but even back in 1999 it still seemed to be more of a very large town than a city. People knew one another through school or through relatives so the death of one person touched so many in the city. This was particularly sad because his wife was pregnant with their only child. His son Ricky Lee Timbrook II born on December 22, 1999.

Below is a newspaper account of the death of Sgt. Timbrook:

At approximately 11:53 p.m. on October 29th, 1999, City of Winchester Police Sergeant Ricky L. Timbrook was fatally wounded while in foot pursuit with a subject who violated probation. While Sgt. Timbrook was pursuing the suspect, the suspect stopped, turned around, and fired one shot from a .38 caliber handgun striking Sgt. Timbrook on the forehead killing him instantly. Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. October 30th at the Winchester Medical Center.

The story was all over the local news every day. This was an officer who received numerous commendations, awards, and recognition's for his law enforcement service. He served as a DARE Officer for the city school system, a Field Training Officer, a Defensive Tactics Instructor, and was a member of the Special Operations Team (SWAT). It could have just as easily have been my brother.

After the trial and conviction of Edward Nathaniel Bell, the story began to fade from view. The media found new stories to chase. Winchester actually resembles the city I was told that it always was. There is suburban sprawl from DC commuters who built their homes in the area to escape the crime and violence of the big city. The small school, where I spent my senior year with 98 other upper classmen is no longer used as a high school. The high school is now a huge sprawling brick building built in what used to be an apple orchard when my family first moved there. The very things people fled the city for, congestion and crime, are a part of the fabric of this once bucolic area.

Then today I saw an article that brought this case back to me. The headlines screamed “Virginia Inmate Forcibly Carried to Death Chamber.” Wow. Can you imagine that? Six stocky corrections officers pulled him through the doorway and lifted him onto the gurney.

Since the execution happened in Virginia I wondered if I was familiar with the case. The name of the man who was executed didn’t ring a bell at first. The victim’s name seemed familiar but not in an instant recognition. It was one of those recognitions where you ask yourself, “Where have I heard that name before?” You have to realize that I only lived in that area for a couple of years. My family still lives there but I don’t have friends that I catch up with there.

Then the article mentioned that his victim had been a police officer in Winchester. It all came back to me. The article said that Bell said, "To the Timbrook family, you definitely have the wrong person," Bell said in the death chamber, addressing the victim's family. "The truth will come out one day. This here, killing me, there's no justice about it."

We seem to be so black and white on matters like abortion and the death penalty. The shades of gray are interpreted as if you are with us or against us. I have wrestled with this topic for years. As a Catholic, I believe in the sanctity of life. Does being against the death penalty mean that I don’t honor the sanctity of Sgt. Timbrook? Does being for the death penalty mean that I don’t honor church doctrine? The often asked question arises; once again, does one person’s execution bring back the loved ones who were murdered?

I’ve honestly wondered if my belief would become more concrete if I was present at one of these executions. Would I see it as being morally right and correct or would I question my own moral fiber by having been present at the planned death of another? As the victim of a brutal crime myself I can understand the desire for vengeance. My husband often says they should execute more. Having taught students who were charged with murder it’s hard to say sure, kill them, they’re animals. Often they have relatives and friends that love them. Having taught students who were murdered, I understand the grief, anger, and desire for retribution of those left behind.

I remember years ago, another inmate at Jarret, argued his innocence to any and all who would listen to him. He had loud vocal critics of the death penalty like Phil Donahue arguing his case. In that case of Roger Keith Coleman had been convicted of murdering and raping his sister-in-law. If you heard the story told on TV you almost questioned it yourself. Was this an innocent man you would ask? At the time DNA was still new.

Coleman was asking for a lie detector test to prove his innocence. He was transported the 70 miles by van from death row to a state police post in Hanover County, where the test was administered about 9:30 a.m. He failed but you didn’t find that out until the next day. Perhaps as damaging to his case as the polygraph were DNA tests on semen samples collected from McCoy's body. By one interpretation, those tests showed Coleman among just 0.2 percent of the population that could have committed the rape. Once again we didn’t know the outcome of this until the next day. We were told that state law forbids admitting new evidence a certain number of days after trial. Donhue, kept saying over and over again, “Why won’t the governor allow DNA evidence.” It seemed as if he was saying that the evidence would bear out his claims of innocence.

I questioned whether the state was executing an innocent man in my name. I questioned whether I was a bad person because I felt he should be executed. I questioned why we seemed to care so much about the person who would be executed and ignored the life snuffed out by Coleman. Why didn’t the victim get a reprieve?

He spoke words similar to Bell, "An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope Americans will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have. My last words are to the woman I love. Love is eternal. My love for you will last forever. I love you Sharon.” (his girlfriend) That night, I prayed that we did the right thing. The whole day had been spent with talking heads saying why Coleman shouldn’t be executed.

In the end a man died. A man who was a husband, a son, a friend, a co-worker, and a father is gone. A young child is growing up without his father. The world has lost a man who wanted to do so much for his community. Police Sergeant Ricky L. Timbrook did not deserve to die. His wife didn’t send him off to work expecting to lose the person she loved. The question is, what do we do now? Do we warehouse murders? Do we put them to death? I wish I had the answer.

Bell was the 103rd Virginia inmate executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. Virginia ranks second only to Texas in the number of executions since then.