Sniper Suspects Indicted in Louisiana

A state grand jury Thursday indicted the Washington-area sniper suspects on first-degree murder charges for a killing in Baton Rouge, while prosecutors in Washington filed their own charges against the pair.

The Louisiana victim, Hong Im Ballenger, 45, was shot Sept. 23 during a robbery at the beauty products shop she managed. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo.

“These two individuals now have a date in Baton Rouge because of this indictment,” said John Sinquefield, assistant district attorney.

Sinquefield said he was unsure when Muhammad and Malvo would be able to stand trial in Baton Rouge.

Prosecutors in Washington charged the pair with first-degree murder while armed in the Oct. 3 shooting of Pascal Charlot, 72. Charlot was standing on a street when he was killed. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Washington and Louisiana are among several jurisdictions waiting to prosecute the men suspected in a months-long shooting spree that left 14 people dead and five others wounded. The others are Maryland, Virginia, Washington state, Alabama and Georgia.

Ballistic tests positively linked the .223-caliber bullet used in the Baton Rouge killing of Ballenger with the weapon used in several of the Washington-area sniper killings, police said.

Store receipts found in the car driven by Muhammad, 41, and Malvo, 17, also show that the men were in Baton Rouge on the day of the Ballenger shooting, investigators said.

Ballenger was shot once in the head and her purse was stolen.

Also Thursday, federal agents in Baton Rouge cut trees and used metal detectors and dogs to search the woods where some of Muhammad’s relatives and childhood friends live.

They cut trees and hauled away limbs and trunks. Possible evidence was sacked in brown paper bags and the ground was squared out in grids and methodically searched.

The scene was similar to that in Tacoma, Wash., last month when authorities searched a home where Muhammad once lived, looking for casings and bullet fragments.

Malvo, 17, is being held in the Fairfax County jail in Virginia, charged in the Oct. 14 slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a home improvement store in Falls Church, Va.

Muhammad, now held in Prince William County, Va., is charged with killing Dean Harold Meyers, 53.