DC Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo Moved Out Of VA Supermax Prison

VIRGINIA — As he awaits resentencing in Maryland as part of a shooting rampage that killed 10 people — and terrorized Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia residents two decades ago — DC sniper Lee Boyd Malvo was recently transferred out of a Virginia supermax prison.

Malvo was recently transferred from Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison to Keen Mountain Correctional Center, WTOP reported. Virginia corrections officials classify Red Onion as a maximum security prison, while Keen Mountain is classified as Security Level 4, housing inmates serving life sentences who have shown no disruptive behavior for at least the past 24 months.

Malvo, who is serving four life sentences at the Virginia prison, was 17 when he and his partner, John Allen Muhammad, 41, stalked the Beltway area in a series of shootings. The pair killed 10 people and wounded three others as they pumped gas and loaded packages into their cars during a three-week period beginning Oct. 2, 2002.

The infamous "D.C. snipers" were apprehended 22 days later at a rest stop near Myersville, Maryland.

In 2006, Malvo pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder in Maryland and two in Virginia. He then pleaded guilty to separate counts of capital murder, attempted capital murder, and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, The AP reported.

Muhammad was sentenced to death and was executed in Virginia in 2009.

The Commonwealth imposed on Malvo a total of four life sentences in prison without parole in 2004. He has spent years appealing his sentences on multiple fronts.

In August 2023, the Maryland Court of Appeals decided Malvo should be resentenced based on guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court on sentencing juvenile offenders. According to online records, WTOP said, Malvo is scheduled to be resentenced in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Maryland beginning Dec. 2, 2024.

The guidance, which came following Malvo's original sentencing, determined that juvenile offenders were protected under the Eight Amendment and could not be sentenced to life in prison without parole unless their crimes indicated "permanent incorrigibility," CNN reported. The Supreme Court also called it "cruel and unusual punishment."

The guidance can be applied retroactively, meaning the legal constraint could be applied to Malvo's case, The Associated Press reported.

The duo shot 13 strangers, killing 10 at gas stations, grocery stores and parking lots among other locations. As the chase dragged on, The Washington Post said sporting events were canceled and tarps were put up to hide customers as they filled their cars at gas stations.

After Malvo and Muhammad were caught, they were tied to at least 11 more shootings — five fatal — from Washington state to Alabama.

The murders began when the duo shot through a window at a Michael's crafts store in Aspen Hill. Nobody was injured there, but a man was fatally shot in the Shoppers Food Warehouse parking lot in Wheaton.

Four victims were shot and killed at Aspen Hill, Kensington, Manassas and Fredericksburg gas stations. One victim was walking along Georgia Avenue in the District when he was gunned down.

One of the attacks was in Prince George's County, outside of Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie. The youngest victim of the sniper attacks, then 13-year-old Bowie resident Iran Brown, was shot on Oct. 7, 2002, when he arrived at the Bowie school to begin classes for the day. Though Brown's injuries required multiple surgeries, he survived the shootings to testify at Muhammad's trial.

The pair was arrested on Oct. 24, 2002.

Malvo was illegally brought into the United States from Antigua by Muhammad — an ex-soldier and expert rifleman — who trained him in military tactics for almost a year.

If Malvo is resentenced, it would only apply to his Maryland sentences. This means it's unlikely he will ever be released from prison due to his standing convictions in Virginia.