Chesapeake (Virginia), Dec 04: Sniper mastermind
John Allen Muhammad was suspected of lobbing a grenade into
another soldier's tent during the gulf war and once threatened
to "slaughter'' a superior, a former platoon sergeant
testified.
Kip Berentson, 48, said yesterday at the trial of
Muhammad's alleged accomplice that no one was wounded in the
1991 grenade attack and no charges were brought, but Muhammad
was transferred to another platoon.
"I considered him a threat,'' Berentson said.
Lawyers for 18-year-old sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo
are pursuing an insanity defense, contending Muhammad
brainwashed the boy and turned him into a killer.
Berentson read a portion of Muhammad's military
record in which a supervisor wrote that he counseled Muhammad
for poor performance and Muhammad answered with a threat:
"brother to brother, back off or you'll be the first who
will be slaughtered.''
Earlier yesterday, circuit judge Jane Marum Roush
barred Malvo's lawyers from introducing a letter in which the
teenager supposedly pleads for help and warns he is a
"ticking time bomb.'' Roush ruled the letter was hearsay.
Bureau Report
