D.C. serial sniper feels like ‘piece of scum’
Pain in eyes of victim’s husband’s look made killer feel remorse
WASHINGTON— Convicted serial sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said in a newspaper interview published Sunday that the devastated reaction of a victim’s husband made him feel like “the worst piece of scum.”
Malvo expresses remorse in the interview with the Washington Post and urged the families of victims to try to forget about him and his partner, John Allen Muham- mad, so they can move on. Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the deadly spree in the Washington area carried out by Malvo and Muhammad. The pair has been linked to 27 shootings across the country, including 10 fatal attacks in the Washington area. Malvo told the Post that the look on the face of victim Linda Franklin’s husband right after she was shot stands out in his memory of the rampage. Franklin was killed outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va. “They are penetrating,” Malvo said of Ted Franklin’s eyes. “It is the worst sort of pain I have ever seen in my life. His eyes . . . words do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion and what I felt when I saw it. . . . You feel like the worst piece of scum on the planet.” Malvo, who was born in Jamaica, was 17 when he went on the cross-country killing spree with Muhammad. Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia with no parole. Muhammad was executed in Virginia in 2009. The sniper-style attacks all but paralyzed the U.S. capital, as people were shot at random while going about their everyday life — pumping gas, buying groceries, and for one young boy, as he went to school. The shoot- ers used a high-powered rifle, firing from the trunk of a modified Chevy Caprice until they were tracked down at a Maryland rest stop. When asked by the Post what he would say to victims’ families, the remorseful Malvo said there’s no way to properly convey an apology.
“We can never change what happened,” Malvo said. “There’s nothing that I can say except don’t allow me and my actions to continue to victimize you for the rest of your life.”
He added: “Don’t allow myself or Muhammad to continue to make you a victim for the rest of your life. It isn’t worth it.”