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Malvo interrogation intended to kill them all { November 19 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59472-2003Nov18.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59472-2003Nov18.html
Jury Hears Tape of Malvo Interrogation
'I Intended to Kill Them All,' Teenager Told Prince William Detective
By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 19, 2003; Page A01
CHESAPEAKE, Va., Nov. 18 -- Jurors on Tuesday heard for the first time the slight voice of Lee Boyd Malvo taking responsibility for firing the shots in all of last fall's sniper shootings and claiming that the attacks were designed to create such chaos that authorities would have to accede to his demand for $10 million.
Malvo's claims were recorded on a microcassette by a Prince William County homicide detective on Nov. 7, 2002, after Malvo already had spent six hours with Fairfax County and FBI investigators. The tape was frequently inaudible in the courtroom, but jurors were given transcripts that let them read along as Malvo confidently made such assertions as "I intended to kill them all."
It was the first time that any of Malvo's police interviews had been played publicly, and new details emerged. His evasive monotone also was heard for the first time by a number of shooting victims' families. A relative of victim Premkumar A. Walekar was driven from the courtroom in tears.
But Malvo's attorneys, building on their theme that the teenager was brainwashed and controlled by co-defendant John Allen Muhammad, noted that Malvo made a number of factual errors in describing the killing of Dean H. Meyers at a Prince William gas station on Oct. 9, 2002. He incorrectly described where Meyers was struck in the head and the color and size of Meyers's car.
"His position was to protect this person he called his father," defense attorney Craig S. Cooley said after Tuesday's court proceedings. "I think his statements are inaccurate, accept far too much responsibility for his role."
Several times on the recording, Malvo talked about sticking to "the plan" and a strategy to outmaneuver police, but he often resisted attempts to probe the specifics of the snipers' preparations and escapes.
Meanwhile, Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. continued a second day of steady, succinct testimony recounting last fall's slayings.
Malvo is charged in the Oct. 14, 2002, slaying of Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot store in the Seven Corners area. In all, 13 people were shot and 10 killed in the Washington region in a three-week period. Horan plans to present 12 of those 13 shootings, including the attack on James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, the first of five victims slain on Oct. 3, 2002.
Buchanan's killing was not included in Muhammad's prosecution because there is no physical evidence linking it to the sniper shootings. But Malvo discussed it in his interrogation by Fairfax homicide detective June Boyle and FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett, which occurred immediately before his discussion with Prince William police about Meyers's killing. The jury will hear parts of the tape with Boyle and Garrett later in the week.
Still, Buchanan's family heard the first public testimony about his shooting. Buchanan was shot in the back as he cut grass behind the Fitzgerald Auto Mall in White Flint. The dealership's employees testified that Buchanan staggered onto their lot and collapsed. When Horan showed photos of the scene and a photo of Buchanan lying on an autopsy table, his mother shook with tears.
About three weeks after the Buchanan shooting, Malvo was in custody. On Nov. 7, 2002, federal officials decided that he and Muhammad would be prosecuted separately in Virginia. Malvo was taken to Fairfax, where Boyle and Garrett spoke to him and elicited a number of admissions.
Sometime after 10 p.m., Boyle introduced Malvo to Prince William Detectives Samuel Walker and Brenda Walburn. Walker testified Tuesday that he wasn't sure that night what Malvo had said in the earlier interrogation and wanted to be sure to focus on his county's case.
Malvo spoke so quietly that at times even Walker couldn't hear him, and Walker often repeated Malvo's answers so that his recorder would capture them. Walker spent time trying to establish rapport with Malvo, at one point telling the then 17-year-old that he had talked with "his father," a reference to Muhammad. He falsely told Malvo that Muhammad had been cooperative.
Walker later asked Malvo if Muhammad was his stepfather. "My father," Malvo said. Walker asked whether he wanted to be called Lee or John. "I prefer Muhammad," Malvo answered. He is not related to Muhammad.
When Malvo indicated reluctance to talk, Walker asked him how "anybody in the court" was going to know the truth about the case. "This is what he told us to say, incriminating himself," Malvo said, apparently meaning Muhammad. Later Malvo said, "I'll talk about this, but I won't incriminate."
"I'll lead you, but I won't tell you why," Malvo said, often nodding his head or using hand gestures, according to the detective's testimony.
When Walker asked him, "Was it for money?" Malvo silently nodded yes. Walker asked if the men needed money desperately. Malvo shook his head no. "Then did you need the money for any particular reason?" Walker asked. Malvo nodded yes.
A handwritten note demanding $10 million in exchange for an end to the shootings was found in Ashland, Va., after a wounding there Oct. 19, 2002.
After nearly an hour, Walker returned to the "why," asking, "How long were you going to shoot, kill people?"
"The detectives could have stopped us at six," Malvo replied. ". . .They chose not to."
Walker asked what Malvo meant. "Heed to the demands," Malvo said. Otherwise, he said calmly, "it would have went to another phase that they couldn't handle."
Malvo explained that the shootings would have forced the government to bring in the military to battle the snipers. That, in turn, "would tear this side of the country up with the economy, tear this whole faction up. Tear this whole section of the country up."
Walker asked how.
"Martial law in America?" Malvo asked. He theorized that "the boys with the money are gonna say, 'Look, how much are they asking for? . . . Why are we doing this? This is futile. Give them what they want. Try and catch them somewhere else.' "
Walker asked Malvo if he was the driver; Malvo said no. "Okay," Walker asked, "were you the triggerman in all of them?"
"Basically, yeah," Malvo said quietly.
"Basically means in most of them but not all?" Walker asked.
"In all of them," Malvo said.
Walker returned to the Meyers shooting several times. He asked where Meyers was hit, and Malvo pointed to the right side of his head. "Not center mass, more to the right side," Malvo said. Meyers actually was hit on the left side of the head. Malvo correctly said that Meyers was standing to the left rear of his car and that he was "in decent shape, not too fat, not too skinny."
Walker asked what color Meyers's car was. Malvo said "a light color." He also said the car was "a decent family-size car." The car was a black Mazda Protege, a compact.
Walker asked what color Meyers's hair was. Malvo pointed to Walburn and said, "Part blond." Meyers's hair was dark brown. Malvo also indicated that he was about 130 yards away, though police have said a map with Malvo's fingerprints was found 82 yards from Meyers.
Cooley asked Walker about the inaccuracies in Malvo's statements. Walker said he recognized that Malvo was getting some facts wrong, but "I didn't press him on those issues because I wanted to keep him talking."
Malvo said he often left his rifle at shooting scenes and came back to retrieve it. He said he did that in Prince William. Walker acknowledged that police searched the area of the Meyers shooting and found no rifle.
Walker said he "marveled at how intelligent he [Malvo] was. I've interviewed a lot of juveniles, 17 and under. A couple of times in the interview, I was kind of surprised by the things he came back with."
After Walker's testimony, Horan presented evidence about the shootings of Buchanan, Walekar, Sarah Ramos and Lori Lewis Rivera, all on Oct. 3, 2002. The jury heard Buchanan's sister, Victoria Buchanan Snider; Walekar's daughter, Andrea Walekar; and Rivera's husband, Nelson Rivera, identify their family members.
Afterward, Andrea Walekar said of Malvo: "He just looked so young and vulnerable. I thought he was older. The vibe that I got, he just looked so immature."
But his age shouldn't be a factor, Walekar said. "He was 17 years old. He knew what he was doing. When I was 17, I knew what I was doing, and nobody could tell me what to do."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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