On Wednesday a circuit court judge denied a request from D.C. Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to vacate his pleas to six murders during the 2002 sniper attacks.
Malvo, currently serving multiple life sentences in Virginia, was attending virtually Wednesday.
According to county State’s Attorney John McCarthy, Malvo refused to participate in the county’s sentencing remotely, and the judge would not order it. There is no other legal way for the state to get Malvo to Maryland. Because he could not be physically present, he wanted to withdraw his pleas and set it back in for trial.
The judge denied that request and issued a bench warrant that will serve as a detainer. Now, the state will not have to try Malvo again, McCarthy said — “particularly thankful that we don’t have to do that for the victims’ families.”
If Malvo were ever to be paroled or finish his sentences in Virginia, that would trigger the detainer, and he would be served with the warrant and brought back here. He has the right to ultimately be sentenced after he finishes his time in Virginia, McCarthy said.
In 2002, Malvo, who was 17 at the time, and John Allen Muhammed, who was put to death in 2009, committed a series of shootings over three weeks that are now called the D.C. sniper attacks. They killed 10 people, including six county residents.
McCarthy said the judge made “absolutely the appropriate decision.”
