Sniper trial prosecutors focus on the relationship between the defendants

John Muhammad listens to the testimony of Reverend Albert Archer during court proceedings on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Throughout the four-week-old trial of John A. Muhammad, the man accused of masterminding the Washington-area sniper attacks, prosecutors have had to work around what seemed a significant shortcoming in their case: Most of the evidence linked only Lee Malvo, who is accused of being Muhammad's accomplice, to the killings.

But on Friday, prosecutors began developing evidence they hope will overcome that problem by showing, they say, that Muhammad controlled Malvo and molded him into a killer.

One witness, the Reverend Albert Archer, the executive director of a homeless shelter in Bellingham, Washington, where Muhammad and Malvo stayed in 2001, testified that the two men had a father-son relationship and that Muhammad seemed to have "a very strong influence" over Malvo.

"Lee made an effort to always please Mr Muhammad," Archer testified. The defendants are not related.

A friend of Muhammad's from Tacoma, Washington, Robert E. Holmes, testified that Muhammad introduced Malvo to him in March, 2002 as "a sniper" and treated the younger man "like he was his son."

Holmes also told the jurors that Muhammad had tried unsuccessfully to construct a silencer for his semi-automatic rifle. During the sniper attacks, Holmes called the FBI and said he thought Muhammad was involved, a tip that proved crucial in identifying Muhammad as a suspect.

But both witnesses also said complimentary things about Muhammad, calling him a caring father to his own children and portraying him as a well-mannered, disciplined, generally decent man.

Muhammad, a 42-year-old former soldier, has been charged in the killing of Dean H. Meyers in Manassas, Virginia, on Oct. 9, 2002. Malvo, 18, who is scheduled to go to trial tomorrow, is accused of killing Linda Franklin in Falls Church, Virginia, on Oct. 14, 2002. Both face the death penalty if convicted.

Prosecutors in Muhammad's trial have introduced evidence from 16 shootings, 10 of them fatal. Virginia law authorizes capital punishment for multiple murders committed over a three-year period and for killings intended to terrorize communities.

Muhammad's relationship with Malvo is important to the prosecution's case because only Malvo's fingerprints were found on the Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle that was seized from Muhammad's car and that, authorities said, was used in at least 13 of the shootings.