Sniper faces the needle tonight

John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to die by lethal injection tonight at a state prison in Jarratt, Va. I have written about this case before so I won't rehash it.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal, so there isn't much left to prevent the execution. Virginia is one of the top three death penalty states and, regardless of which party is in power, governors don't often step in at the 11th hour to save a convicted felon here.

Locally, there is a lot being written in the newspapers and talked about on radio and TV today. The sniper attacks occurred about a year after 9/11, so folks were already on edge from the nearby Pentagon tragedy being fresh in their memories. Many felt the sniper attacks were another sign that the world was going to Hell.

Virginia close to ending the life of a monster

John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to be put to death on Nov. 10.

In 2002, Muhammad and a young accomplice terrorized Northern Virginia and Maryland for weeks, randomly shooting 13 people. Ten died. For those folks who were here at the time, you know the story all too well.

Muhammad was sentenced to the death penalty in 2003 for killing Dean H. Meyers near Manassas, Va. I was familiar with that particular shooting because I lived in Manassas for several years.

The entire D.C. metro region was on edge during the sniper attacks. People were being shot while pumping gas, walking across shopping center parking lots and so on. Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo positioned themselves in their car and blasted away at whomever was a convenient target. These were not racial crimes. Driving around and shooting folks was purely for sport for these two disturbed monsters. Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.

I remember many people began feeling less than at ease as they went about their business. Getting groceries was becoming an anxiety-filled task. Standing at a bus stop was scary. After-school activities were being canceled. The snipers got into everyone's head to some degree. My office building at USA TODAY was just up the road from one of the killings at a nearby Home Depot. I remember a sense of looking around more than usual as I came and went from the parking garage each day.

Now Muhammad is going to die either by lethal injection or the electric chair. His choice. If he chooses neither, state law requires he die by injection. His victims didn't have a choice. They each died from a bullet. No chance to say goodbye to family or friends. Gunned down just for kicks.

Monsters like Muhammad make it hard to be against the death penalty.