Kaine has sniper's clemency petition

By: Uriah Kiser | Inside NoVA
Published: October 23, 2009

Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine has received a petition for clemency for convicted Washington, D.C. area sniper, John Allen Muhammad.

The document arrived at the governor’s office this week, said Gordon Hickey, Kaine’s press secretary.

“The governor does not discuss clemency petitions, but we can say that we have received the petition,” said Hickey.

Last month on an interview show on WTOP radio, Kaine said it would be unlikely he would grant Muhammad clemency.

Muhammad’s defense attorney, Jonathan Sheldon, is expected to release the text of the petition today.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for killing Dean Harold Meyers, a Gaithersburg, Md. man who stopped for gas near Manassas in 2002.

Meyers was one of 13 people gunned down during the sniper rampage that terrorized the Washington region. Ten people died and three more were wounded before Muhammad and teen accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo were arrested.

Muhammad is scheduled to die on Nov. 10. Malvo was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Muhammad will file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 2, but is not speaking with reporters – or his adult son – due to prison rules and regulations, according to a statement issued by Sheldon.

Sheldon said his client is mentally ill and allowing Muhammad to do media interviews would be unethical.

Muhammad is being held at the Sussex State Prison in Waverly.

Stay with insidenova.com for more on this developing story.