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Malvo laughing detective says Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/04/28/sprj.dcsp.malvo.hearing/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/04/28/sprj.dcsp.malvo.hearing/index.html
Malvo laughingly described some of shootings, police detective says
FAIRFAX, Virginia (CNN) --A police detective who interrogated sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo said the teenager gleefully recounted some of the shootings during the three-week spree last fall that left 10 dead and wounded four others.
The statements were made during a six-and-a-half-hour interview with Fairfax County, Virginia, investigators last November 7, in which Malvo reportedly was laughing when he described the shooting death of 47-year-old Linda Franklin, Fairfax County Police detective June Boyle testified Monday.
Malvo, then 17, allegedly admitted to participating in many of the sniper attacks and reportedly confessed to being the triggerman in the shooting of Franklin, an FBI analyst.
Boyle said an interrogation room microphone was turned on rather than bringing in a camera, which tends to make suspects stop talking. Prosecutors planned to play part of that tape during Monday's hearing, which was expected to last all day.
According to Boyle, Malvo laughed as he described Franklin's murder.
"I asked him where he shot her," Boyle said. "He laughed and pointed to his head."
Boyle's testimony came at a hearing in which Malvo's attorneys are seeking the dismissal of their client's statements to police last November.
At issue is whether statements Malvo made during the November 7, 2002 interrogation can be used at his trial next fall. During the interview, Malvo allegedly admitted to participating in many of the sniper shootings.
Malvo's attorneys contend that the interrogation was illegal, saying that Malvo invoked his right to legal counsel. Prosecutors counter that Malvo never requested to see an attorney.
A judge will decide if those statements were obtained unlawfully and should be thrown out.
Now 18, Malvo is being held at the Fairfax County jail on a capital murder charge in the October 14 shooting of Franklin at a parking lot outside a store.
Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, 42, have been linked to 20 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and the Washington, D.C. area.
In testimony on Monday, Boyle said Malvo laughed about the October 3 shooting death of James "Sonny" Buchanan, which happened while the man was mowing his lawn.
The suspect was amused that the mower continued moving along after Buchanan fell, Boyle told the judge.
Also on Monday, a source close to the investigation told CNN that investigators also believe Malvo shot at and narrowly missed a child outside the Michael's Art Supply store in Aspen Hill, Maryland, on October 2, 2002, the first night of the shooting spree.
Boyle said Malvo was jovial in describing that incident as well, saying, "I might have parted his hair."
When the suspect was asked if the child knew he was being shot at, Malvo reportedly said, "Yeah, he knew, it (the bullet) went buzzing by him like a bee."
The shot pierced the window of the art supply store about 5:20 p.m. Forty-five minutes later, a man shot while walking in a grocery store parking lot became the first death in the sniper spree.
--CNN Producer Mike Ahlers and CNN Correspondent Patty Davis contributed to this report.
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