Sniper suspect faces death penalty

Police holding the Washington sniper suspect say they intend to seek the death penalty.

Earlier, it emerged that police twice missed the chance to catch the Washington sniper when they pulled over the "killing-machine" car from which he unleashed his reign of terror - but let it go unsearched.

The revelation came as chilling details emerged of how the two men alleged to be involved in the killing spree converted an ordinary car into a weapon of death.

Gulf War veteran John Muhammad and his 17-year-old accomplice rebuilt the 12-year-old Chevrolet, removing the back seats so one man could lie flat with a telescopic rifle and pick off victims.

Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, an illegal Jamaican immigrant, appeared in court for the first time last night as demands mounted that they receive the death penalty. Ten people died and three were injured in the four-week shooting spree.

Their car, a blue 1990 Chevrolet, had two holes, each the size of the bottom of a Coke can, drilled in the boot - one for the telescopic sight of the .223 bullet and the other for the muzzle. Inside, the gun was mounted on a tripod to keep it stable.

Police, believing they were hunting for a man in a white van, twice pulled over the blue four-door car for a " traffic violation" - only to let it go.

On 2 October, officers from Montgomery County - the force leading the massive manhunt - stopped the car as it was driven by Muhammad, 42, but let it go without searching it.

The next day - when four people were killed by the sniper in Montgomery County and one in Washington DC at night - police in the capital again stopped the car but did not have enough cause to arrest Muhammad or search the vehicle.

Montgomery police chief Charles Moose has yet to address the missed chances to stop the sniper, revealed in today's Washington Post.

However, last night investigators said they had "a mountain of evidence" linking Muhammad and Malvo to the killings. In the most significant breakthrough, ballistics experts have confirmed that a high-powered Bushmaster hunting rifle owned by Muhammad is the weapon used in 11 of the 13 shootings, which brought terror to millions for three weeks.

"We have the weapon. It is off the street," Chief Moose said.

Muhammad made his first appearance at a federal court in Maryland last night surrounded by scores of heavily armed police. Dressed in a green prison uniform, he was charged with possessing a firearm after an incident involving his former wife in Washington state last year. Charges of several counts of murder are expected next week.

Muhammad was brought into court in handcuffs and spoke only when the magistrate asked if he understood the proceedings. "I know where I'm at and I know what I'm doing," he said.

Malvo, who claims Muhammad is his stepfather, appeared in a closed juvenile court and was ordered to be held in custody as a material witness.

If charged with murder, both men could face execution as the killings were committed in Maryland and Virginia, which both have the death penalty. The full drama of how the two were captured was also revealed today. A note left by the sniper at the site of a shooting in Ashland, Virginia, last weekend boasted of a murder last month that left one woman dead and another badly wounded in Alabama.

The writer claimed responsibility for the Alabama shooting as additional proof that he was prepared to keep killing. But Muhammad, a former army sergeant, was unaware that police had recovered a fingerprint from the September shooting.

Investigators were able to match the print to Malvo, who had been arrested on immigration charges earlier this year and was facing deportation.

After tracking him to a school in Bellingham, in Washington state, they learned of his involvement with Muhammad, who left the army in 1995 and had been living with the boy in a homeless shelter. In Kingston, Jamaica, today Leslie Malvo, 55, identified as the youth's father, said his son was a "nice kid," though he hadn't seen him for four years and did not know he was in the US.

Before leaving the army, Muhammad was based at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington state, home to a sniper school. He won a badge for expert marksmanship.

The arrests have ended weeks of terror around Washington, with motorists forced to hide behind their cars at filling stations and schoolchildren locked in classrooms.

President Bush praised the success of the sniper taskforce, saying they had lifted "a shadow of fear from many families".