Sniper Liked to Control, Son Says

The eldest son of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad told jurors Tuesday that his father was a manipulator who exploited people’s weaknesses and who, a decade ago, had “embedded in my head” that his mother was abusing him.

Lindbergh Williams, a 21-year-old janitor whose mother had sole custody of him when he was a minor, said he still loved his father. But he testified: “If he sees a weakness, he’ll take advantage of your weakness.... If you tell an 11-year-old something on a constant basis every day, every day, eventually you’re going to believe it.”

Williams testified for the defense in the murder trial of Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, Muhammad’s alleged co-conspirator in a three-week sniper spree that last year left 10 people dead in the Washington, D.C., area. Malvo and Muhammad, 42, a Persian Gulf War veteran, also have been linked to shootings in Washington state, Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and Georgia.

Muhammad was found guilty of capital murder Nov. 17 in a trial in nearby Virginia Beach, Va., and is being held in the Prince William County, Maryland, jail. A jury sentenced him to death -- a penalty that Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. will confirm or change to life in prison without parole during a sentencing hearing in February.

Malvo’s court-appointed defense attorney, Craig Cooley, called Williams to the stand as part of a strategy to show that Malvo -- a slight, soft-spoken young man who was abandoned by his father -- was brainwashed by the strong-willed Muhammad and turned into an obedient child soldier. Malvo has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his attorneys say he could not distinguish between right and wrong during the sniper attacks.

In laying out his case, which is expected to take several weeks, Cooley began last week by describing Malvo’s early life in his native Jamaica. Former teachers, friends and family members recalled an intelligent, polite and caring boy who attended church regularly and was never in trouble.

But Tuesday, Muhammad played a more prominent part in the testimony than did Malvo. Much of Cooley’s examination focused on the time Muhammad and Malvo spent together last year at the Lighthouse Mission, a homeless shelter in Bellingham, Wash. One defense witness said Muhammad “doted over Malvo like a caring father,” while several said Malvo seemed to be under the sway of Muhammad and seldom spoke without his approval.

“I remember Malvo sat down in the cafeteria one day and struck up a conversation with two people,” said Rory Rueben, a Lighthouse employee. “Muhammad came over with his tray a moment later and gave Malvo a hard stare across the table, a very stern look. Malvo just automatically stopped talking and got on with his food.”

Muhammad’s first wife, Carol Williams, testified that Malvo -- while visiting her Baton Rouge, La., home with Muhammad in the summer of 2002 -- became smitten with her 17-year-old niece. He gave the girl a letter asking for help to get out of the “situation” he was in, Williams said. She did not elaborate, except to say the family met to discuss his request and decided to do nothing.

“Lee kind of got a crush” on the girl, Cooley said, “and wrote out a letter [and said] that he was despondent in it. He said that his mother had abandoned him, and [that he had] a father who ‘will kill me for a righteous society to prevail.’ ”

The defense had hoped to subpoena Muhammad to testify, primarily to contrast for jurors the 6-foot, solidly built Muhammad with the slight, boyish-looking Malvo. But Muhammad’s attorneys said he would invoke the 5th Amendment if called, and Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush said it made no sense to transport Muhammad to Chesapeake for a “size comparison.”