Defence attorney Craig S Cooley (left) and Lee Boyd Malvo (centre) sit and listen as court clerk Debbie Rose reads the verdict in this sketch in Chesapeake Circuit Court in Chesapeake, Va, yesterday. The jury convicted Malvo on three counts, including two counts of capital murder. (Photo: AP)

CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (AP) - A jury yesterday convicted Jamaican-born Lee Boyd Malvo of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper case, rejecting claims that the teenager was brainwashed by John Allen Muhammad into taking part in the three-week reign of terror that left 10 people dead.

The jury now will decide whether Malvo, 18, should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. A jury in nearby Virginia Beach convicted Muhammad last month and recommended that he be executed for his role as the mastermind of the killings.

Malvo, whose expressions had often been animated throughout the trial, leaned on his elbows at the table with a blank look on his face while the verdict was read. The jury had deliberated for 13 hours over two days.

Malvo was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the October 14, 2002 killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, shot in the head outside a store in Falls Church, Virginia. The sentencing phase will begin today.

One of the counts against Malvo alleged the killing was part of a series of murders over a three-year period; the other alleged that Franklin's killing was intended to terrorise the public. Malvo and Muhammad, 42, are the first two people tried under the post-September 11 terrorism law.

Attorney General John Ashcroft had cited Virginia's ability to impose ''the ultimate sanction'' in sending Malvo and Muhammad to Virginia for prosecution.

Virginia is one of only 21 states that allow the execution of those who were 16 or 17 when they killed, and is one of only six states that have actually executed a juvenile since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. Malvo was 17 at the time of the sniper rampage.

The jury could have convicted Malvo of first-degree murder, which would have taken the death penalty off the table. The decision to convict on capital murder means that the jury believes Malvo was the triggerman in Franklin's death. It also means that the jury believes the killing was an act of terrorism.

Franklin's daughter, Katrina Hannum, cried after the verdict. Other members of her family and other people in the courtroom patted each other on the shoulders.

''I'm happy,'' said June Boyle, the detective who heard Malvo's confession. ''Not all the way happy yet, though. We still have sentencing to do.''

Prosecutors portrayed Malvo as a gleeful and eager triggerman in the October 2002 killing spree, saying he fired shots from the trunk of a beat-up car while Muhammad plotted the attacks.

Ten people were killed and three were wounded during the spree - most them as they went about their daily routines. A 13 year-old boy was wounded after being dropped off at school. A mother was gunned down as she vacuumed her minivan at gas station. One victim was mowing grass when he was killed. Another was buying groceries.

Authorities say the killings were part of an attempt to extort $10 million from the government.

During his closing argument, prosecutor Robert F Horan Jr called Malvo and Muhammad ''peas in a pod'', motivated by greed and wickedness.

''Their belief, as wild and vicious as it was, was that if they killed enough people, the government would come around'' and meet their demand for money, Horan said.

During the six-week trial, jurors saw several grisly crime scene photos and heard two police confessions in which a cocky Malvo gloated about the killings. ''I intended to kill them all,'' he said on tape.

In a separate conversation with a detective, Malvo chuckled as he recalled how one victim fell after being struck, while the lawnmower he had been pushing rumbled along.

He bragged that he and Muhammad could pull off a shooting, regardless of police presence. ''You don't mean nothing,'' he told a detective. ''We will shoot with you there. We shoot with you not there. We will shoot with soldiers there.''

The defence contended that the confession was fabricated by Malvo to protect Muhammad, the man he had come to view as a father. The defence said Muhammad brainwashed Malvo, leaving him unable to tell right from wrong.

''Lee could no more separate himself from John Muhammad than you could separate from your shadow on a sunny day,'' defence attorney Michael Arif, said in closing arguments. ''He was not the idea man. He was a puppet, moulded like a piece of clay by John Muhammad.''

In addition to the murder charges, Malvo was found guilty of using a firearm in a murder.

Malvo, in his initial confession to police, had claimed to be the triggerman in all the Washington-area sniper shootings, but subsequently recanted and said Muhammad was the shooter in all but the final shooting.

Defence lawyers called several experts to bolster the insanity defence, including an expert on child soldiers who testified how youngsters with unstable family lives were vulnerable to brainwashing. A cult expert made a similar point.
Although Malvo's mother often dropped out of his life as a child, the teenager's father testified that he had a loving relationship with his son and described him as obedient.
Malvo and Muhammad could stand trial again. Prosecutors in Maryland and Louisiana have said they want a crack at Muhammad for shootings there, and Malvo could face a similar fate.

Muhammad was convicted of identical charges for the killing of Dean Harold Meyers, at a gas station. The judge could reduce his punishment to life in prison when he sentences Muhammad in February, although Virginia judges rarely overrule a jury's recommendation of death.

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