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John Allen Muhammad (December 31, 1960 – November 10, 2009) was an American convicted murderer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He, along with his seventeen-year-old partner, Lee Boyd Malvo, carried out the Beltway sniper attacks of October 2002, killing at least 10 people. Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002, following tips from alert citizens. Although the pairing's actions were classified by the media as psychopathy attributable to serial killer characteristics, whether or not their psychopathy meets this classification or that of a spree killer is debated by researchers. Born as John Allen Williams, Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam in 1987 and later changed his surname to Muhammad. At Muhammad's trial, the prosecutor claimed that the rampage was part of a plot to kill his ex-wife and regain custody of his children, but the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support this argument.〔(CNN.com – "Muhammad told ex-wife, 'I will kill you', she says" ), CNN, November 20, 2003. Horwitz, Ruane. ''Sniper: Inside the Hunt for the Killers Who Terrorized the Nation'': Random House (ISBN 0-345-47662-x)〕 His trial for one of the murders (the murder of Dean Harold Meyers in Prince William County, Virginia) began in October 2003, and the following month he was found guilty of capital murder. Four months later he was sentenced to death. While awaiting execution in Virginia, in August 2005, he was extradited to Maryland to face some of the charges there, for which he was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder on May 30, 2006. Upon completion of the trial activity in Maryland, Muhammad was returned to Virginia's death row pending an agreement with another state or the District of Columbia seeking to try him. He was not tried on additional charges in other Virginia jurisdictions, and faced potential trials in three other states and the District of Columbia involving other deaths and serious woundings. All appeals of his conviction for killing Dean Harold Meyers had been made and rejected. Appeals for Muhammad's other trials remained pending at the time of his execution. Muhammad was executed by lethal injection on November 10, 2009, at 9:06 p.m. EST at the Greensville Correctional Center near Jarratt, Virginia, and was pronounced dead at 9:11 p.m. EST.〔"(D.C. Sniper Muhammad Executed in Virginia )." ''Fox News''. November 12, 2009. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.〕 Muhammad declined to make a final statement.〔Meserve, Jeanne and Mike M. Ahlers. "(Sniper John Allen Muhammad executed )." ''CNN''. November 11, 2009. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.〕 ==Early life== Born John Allen Williams in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Ernest and Eva Williams, he and his family moved to New Orleans when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; she died when he was three.〔http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Muhammad,%20John%20Allen%20-%202005.pdf〕 After his mother's death, his father left and he was raised mostly by his grandfather and an aunt. In 1987 he joined the Nation of Islam.〔CNN online. U.S. 〕 As a member of the Nation of Islam, Muhammad helped provide security for the "Million Man March" in 1995, but Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has publicly distanced himself and his organization from Muhammad's crimes.〔(Minister Louis Farrakhan addresses sniper arrest )〕 Muhammad kidnapped his children and brought them to Antigua around 1999, apparently engaging in credit card and immigration document fraud. It was during this time that he became close with Lee Boyd Malvo, who later acted as his partner in the killings. Williams changed his name to John Allen Muhammad in October 2001. After his arrest, authorities also claimed that Muhammad admitted that he admired and modeled himself after Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and approved of the September 11 attacks. Malvo testified that Muhammad had indoctrinated him into believing that the proceeds of the extortion attempt would be used to establish "a camp in Canada where homeless children would be trained as terrorists."〔http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226565/Washington-Sniper-John-Allen-Muhammad-executed-tonight.html〕〔http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/high-profile-mass-murder-cases/5/〕 Muhammad was twice divorced; his second wife, Mildred Muhammad, sought and was granted a restraining order. Muhammad was arrested on federal charges of violating the restraining order against him by possessing a weapon. Under federal law, those with restraining orders are prohibited to purchase or possess guns as per the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968. Defense attorneys in the Malvo trial and the prosecution in Muhammad's trial argued that the ultimate goal of the killings was to kill Mildred so he would regain custody of his three children.〔(Sniper's ex-wife: Muhammad was 'magnet' for children )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Allen Muhammad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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