Sniper Slayings Tied to Rifle Found in Muhammad's Car

Montgomery County prosecutors presented ballistics evidence yesterday linking most of the October 2002 sniper slayings to a high-powered rifle found in the car driven by defendant John Allen Muhammad and his alleged accomplice.

The evidence is at the heart of the circumstantial portion of the case against Muhammad, who is charged with murder in each of the six Montgomery slayings. The same ballistics test results, matching bullet fragments or spent casings to the .223-caliber Bushmaster found in Muhammad's modified Chevy Caprice, were presented when Muhammad was convicted and sentenced to death in Virginia.

Alleged accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, who is serving a life sentence in Virginia, is expected to testify against Muhammad as early as Monday, according to a source close to the case. His testimony could allow prosecutors to directly challenge one of Muhammad's core defense claims: that no witnesses saw him shoot anyone.

Walter A. Dandridge Jr., a firearms examiner with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified that there was "no doubt" that the Bushmaster found in Muhammad's car when he and Malvo were arrested was used in the killings.

Muhammad, who is acting as his own attorney, tried to portray ballistics testing as unreliable, challenging Dandridge's assertion that the bullets were fired from the Bushmaster "to the exclusion of every other firearm."

"Have you fired every other weapon in the world?" Muhammad asked.

Muhammad, a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, pressed Dandridge on the specifications of various firearms, including muzzle velocities and chamber pressures, prompting the witness at one point to respond, "You probably know better than I."