Lee Malvo, who is currently 34 years old, was only 17 when he and his counterpart John Allen Muhammad killed more than ten people in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Colombia through sniper attacks. This led to John Allen Muhammad’s death sentence in which he was executed in 2009, as the minor killer Malvo was given a life sentence (Horwitz and Ruane 11). Malvo might have undergone some psychological torture before meeting with Muhammad since his parents had not settled in one place but moved from one state to another. Malvo was later sent by his mother to stay with his aunt. Another factor that prompted Malvo to participate in the killing spree is when he was left with Muhammad, who converted him into Islamic religion with distorted perception. Since his parents had neglected him, he chose to change his religion as a way of forgetting them. After that, Malvo further migrated to Florida using false documents.
According to Blohm, Malvo was in full control of John Allen Muhammad; thus, he could not be entirely held responsible for the spree killings considering that he was a minor at the time of the crime (31). Also, during his trials, it was established that Malvo used to play violent video games, which might have contributed immensely to his desire to commit murder (Horwitz and Ruane 17). Since Malvo pleaded guilty to the murder of six people in Maryland, it was justified for him to be sentenced to life but not a death sentence. This is because there was a possibility that he would repeat the same ordeal or even decide to reform. Malvo later admitted that it was not his plan to commit the murder, although he had initially told the court that it was his intention. He stated that he had done it to help his counterpart John Allen Muhammad and pleaded not to be condemned to death. For these reasons, Malvo should be considered for parole since he admitted the crime he had committed and asked for forgiveness from all the victims he had inflicted either directly or indirectly.
Works Cited
Blohm, Craig E. Crime Scene Investigations. Lucent Books, 2006.
Horwitz, Sari, and Michael E. Ruane. Sniper: Inside the Hunt for the Killers Who Terrorized the Nation. Random House, 2003.