DC Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo's MD Murder Convictions Won't Be Vacated: Reports

VIRGINIA — A judge on Wednesday denied a request by convicted murderer Lee Boyd Malvo to vacate his guilty pleas in the 2002 deaths of six people in Montgomery County, Maryland, according to multiple reports.

In October 2006, Malvo pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Sonny Buchanan, Conrad Johnson, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, James Martin, Sarah Ramos and Premkumar Walekar, according to The MoCo Show. The shootings happened in 2002 and are included in what authorities refer to as the D.C. Sniper attacks.

According to a statement obtained by Montgomery Community Media from State’s Attorney John McCarthy, the judge also deferred Malvo's re-sentencing in the murders because he refused to participate in the hearing remotely.

Since he could not legally attend the hearing because he is serving four life sentences in Virginia, Malvo had requested to withdraw his pleas and set it back in for trial, the publication reported.

Malvo 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 the murders in Maryland and two counts of murder 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 Associated Press 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 previously reported.

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.

Malvo was scheduled to be resentenced in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Maryland beginning Dec. 2, 2024. In Wednesday's decision, the judge deferred his resentencing until he completes his Virginia prison sentence.

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.

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.

Malvo was recently transferred from Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison to Keen Mountain Correctional Center, WTOP previously 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.