D.C. Sniper's Execution Carried Out

PHILADELPHIA - John Allen Muhammad, the D.C. sniper who terrorized a community and a nation, was put to death Tuesday night.

The killing spree touched a lot of lives over a three-week span seven years ago.

The procedure started at 9:06 p.m. Muhammad was pronounced dead minutes later at 9:11 p.m.

Officials said Muhammad seemed emotionless the entire time. An official from the corrections department spoke outside the prison and was followed by an attorney representing the Muhammad family.

"Mr. Muhammad was asked if he liked to make a last statement," prison spokesman Larry Traylor said. "He did not acknowledge us or make any statement whatsoever."

"We deeply sympathize with the families and loved ones who have to relive the pain and loss of those terrible days," said Muhammad lawyer, who later got choked up.

His client killed 10 people during the shooting spree.

Tuesday was a night of mixed emotions for some local residents whose lives were forever changed by the D.C. sniper case.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey was Washington's police chief during the spree. He said Tuesday that Muhammad was getting exactly what he deserved.

Still memories of the killings haunt him like a never-ending nightmare.

"The three weeks in October of '02 was the most intense period I've spent in my entire career," Ramsey said.

At the time, the nation was gripped by the faceless, heartless sniper picking off targets completely at random, paralyzing the nation's capital and its Virginia and Maryland suburbs with absolute fear.

"It was just totally senseless," Ramsey said. "He killed over and over and over and over again over a period of about 10 days. Now that's about as cold blooded as it gets. … And if anybody deserved to die – whether it's by lethal injection, electric chair or whatever – the means, John Allen Muhammad certainly does qualify for that."

Still Ramsey said that horrible feeling is back years after he was D.C.'s top cop during 9-11 and then came the sniper.

"You kind of get that same sick feeling in the pit of your stomach," he said, adding that he remembers "an incredible sense of urgency like I've never felt before to find the person responsible. I mean we had people dying almost every day."

Dean Meyers became a target on Oct. 9, 2002, shot while filling up at a gas station in Manassas, Va., just days after a phone call to his brother in Perkiomenville, Pa.

"He said that there's millions of people down here so it's pretty unlikely that, you know, they're gonna get me," said Robert Meyers, who witnessed the execution of his brother's murderer Tuesday night.

Meyers credited his Christian faith with helping him to forgive Muhammad and continue with his recovery. He'll use his experience and pain to help counsel others in tragedy.

"We don't see any winners in this situation," Meyers said.

Ramsey said, "I'll never forget it. I'll absolutely never forget it. But anything I feel has to be nothing compared to what those family members have to be going through now and for the rest of their lives."

As for Lee Malvo, Muhammad's teen-aged partner in crime, he's serving life in prison.

That's perfect, Ramsey said, since Malvo by law couldn't be put to death.

Looking back, Ramsey said he just wishes police could have found Malvo and Muhammad sooner, perhaps saving a few more lives.