Jury Sees Car Allegedly Used by Muhammad

Focus Turns to Physical Evidence Said to Link Defendant to 2002 Shootings

Jurors in the Montgomery County trial of John Allen Muhammad were escorted to a secure loading dock in the courthouse building yesterday to see the modified Chevrolet Caprice that was allegedly used as a sniper's nest during the attacks that claimed 10 lives in the Washington area in October 2002.

They also heard a detailed inventory of items seized from the vehicle, including the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle, scope and bipod that prosecutors allege were used in the killings. A federal agent testified that the weapon, which the jury saw briefly during opening statements, was found concealed behind the cushion of the back seat after authorities swarmed the car -- with Muhammad and alleged accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo inside -- at a rest stop in Frederick on Oct. 24, 2002.

This week prosecutors have shifted from presenting emotional testimony about individual shootings to introducing physical evidence linking Muhammad to the shootings.

Among the items seized from the Caprice was a right-handed glove that matched a left-handed glove found in the woods in Aspen Hills near the spot where bus driver Conrad Johnson was shot. Authorities also seized earplugs, a map with Bethesda and Silver Spring circled, a rifle scope and a spent .223 shell casing.

The inventory also featured a digital voice recorder, several books -- including one called "Black Power: The Politics of Liberation" -- and handwritten notes about schools in the Baltimore area.

Muhammad, 45, on trial for six slayings in Montgomery, was convicted and sentenced to death in Virginia. Malvo, now 21, has been sentenced to life in prison in that state. He is likely to take the stand as a witness for the state against Muhammad next week if he agrees to plead guilty in the Maryland case.

The physical evidence poses a significant challenge to the defense Muhammad appears to be mounting: that no one saw him shoot anyone and that the real snipers remain at large. Investigators say they have been able to link the rifle to some of the bullet fragments found at crime scenes and others recovered from the bodies of some sniper victims.

Yesterday, Muhammad, who is acting as his own attorney, asked an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives if he was aware of any sniper shootings after Muhammad and Malvo were arrested, particularly in Ohio and West Virginia. Although sniper-style shootings occurred in those states, the agent testified that they did not involve the Bushmaster.

Later, Muhammad implied that investigators might have stolen money during the search of the Caprice, asking a forensics expert who conducted the initial inventory of the vehicle if he had found $11,000 inside.

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, a fierce supporter of the prosecution and a candidate for governor, attended the trial briefly yesterday morning.

"It's very difficult to watch him," Duncan later told reporters. "He's a very evil, very calculating, very manipulative person."

Standing beside him was Vicky Snider, the sister of victim James "Sonny" Buchanan. Snider has attended most of the trial and said seeing the rifle yesterday was difficult.

"It's very chilling to me," she said. "And it's chilling to see it near him."