Friend - Muhammad called Malvo a sniper

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A friend of John Allen Muhammad testified Friday that Muhammad introduced Lee Boyd Malvo to him as a sniper and that Muhammad tried unsuccessfully to fashion a silencer for the rifle allegedly used in last year's sniper spree.

"He said, 'Imagine the damage you could do if you shoot with a silencer,"' said Robert Holmes of Tacoma, Wash., Muhammad's friend since their Army days in the mid-1980s.

When Muhammad introduced Malvo to Holmes, "he said his name is Lee. He said he's a sniper," Holmes testified in Muhammad's capital murder trial. Asked by the prosecutor what Malvo's reaction was, Holmes said, "Lee just smiled."

Also Friday, the director of a Bellingham, Wash., homeless shelter used by Muhammad and Malvo testified that Muhammad "had a very strong influence" on Malvo while the pair stayed at the shelter.

Holmes' tip to the FBI that Muhammad might have been responsible for the sniper shootings helped lead to the arrest of Muhammad and Malvo on Oct. 24, 2002, after three weeks of sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., region.

Holmes, testifying for the prosecution, said he observed a father-son type of relationship between Muhammad, 42, and Malvo, 18.

"He treated Lee just like his own son. I never saw John yell at him or scream at him," Holmes testified. "He would talk ... and get the result he wanted. Lee didn't really talk a lot."

Holmes said he still considers Muhammad his friend and has sent him money and letters while he has been in jail. He also testified that he became concerned about a deterioration in Muhammad's condition after his ex-wife Mildred gained custody of the couple's three young children in September 2001.

"He wasn't as clean. There were times he would wear the same clothes two or three days in a row. That wasn't John," Holmes said.

The Rev. Al Archer, director of the Bellingham shelter, said Muhammad appeared to exert control over Malvo. "What I observed was that Lee made an effort to always please Mr. Muhammad," Archer said.

Archer's testimony, and Holmes' to a lesser extent, bolstered prosecutors' arguments that Muhammad had essentially brainwashed the younger Malvo. Prosecutors have said that because Muhammad exerted such influence he is guilty of murder even if Malvo was the triggerman in the sniper shootings.

Defense lawyers contend that the triggerman issue is crucial in determining whether Muhammad is eligible for the death penalty. Malvo has said he pulled the trigger in most of the shootings, though lawyers for the younger suspect say he made the admission to protect Muhammad.

Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. approved a prosecution request to allow the jury to see the 1990 Chevrolet Caprice in which Muhammad and Malvo were arrested last year.

Jurors watched as deputies opened the car's trunk and lifted the hinged back seat that allowed access to the trunk. Prosecutors say a large notch cut above the license plate allowed the pair to fire shots from within the trunk.

One of the jurors stuck her hand into the car to see how much space was available in the trunk when the seat was dislodged, according to a pool reporter who witnessed the field trip.

Muhammad is on trial for the Oct. 9, 2002, shooting death of Dean Harold Meyers, one of 10 people killed during the sniper spree in the D.C. area.

Malvo's trial in another shooting is set to start Monday in nearby Chesapeake.