Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Some Justice

John Allen Muhammad, the convicted Beltway Sniper, is to be executed by lethal injection at 21:00 Eastern Time.  In October of 2002, and his juvenile co-defendant, Lee Boyd Malvo, went on a murder spree that left 10 people dead in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.  Muhammad, a member of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, and Malvo, who is serving a fixed life sentence, shot their victims from the trunk of a car, through a hole cut for the purpose, with a semiautomatic rifle at long range.  Their motive was jihad.  Lee Malvo liked to make drawings in praise of Osama bin Laden.   


Since the lion's share of media attention today is bound to be devoted to John Muhammad and liberal opponents of capital punishment, it pays to be reminded of the people who are now dead because of John Muhammad and his 17-year-old fellow assassin.

James Martin, 55, killed October 2, 2002 in Wheaton, Maryland
James Buchanan,    39, killed October 3, 2002 in Rockville, Maryland
Premkumar Walekar, 54, killed October 3, 2002 in Aspen Hill, Maryland
Sarah Ramos, 34, killed October 3, 2002 in Silver Spring, Maryland
Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, killed October 3, 2002 in Kensington, Maryland
Pascal Charlot, 72, killed October 3, 2002 in Washington, D.C.
Dean Harold Meyers, 53, killed October 9, 2002 in Manassas, Virginia
Kenneth Bridges, 53, killed October 11, 2002 in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Linda Franklin,    47, killed October 14, 2002 in Falls Church, Virginia
Conrad Johnson,    35, killed October 22, 2002 in Aspen Hill, Maryland
 

In a way, the death penalty is insufficient: one life is not a sufficient price to pay for the wanton destruction of ten.  But there is a limit to the reach of human justice, and the totality of his life, liberty and property are all John Muhammad has on earth to pay with.  God have mercy on his soul.

1 comment:

  1. As one who lives in the Washington area and knew first hand the terror this man inflicted on millions, yes, justice was finally done.

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