Convicted sniper Malvo felt like 'worst piece of scum'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Convicted D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said in a newspaper interview published Sunday that the devastated reaction of a victim's husband made him feel like "the worst piece of scum."
Malvo expresses remorse in the interview with The Washington Post and urged the families of victims to try and forget about him and his partner John Allen Muhammad so they can move on. Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the deadly spree in the Washington area carried out by Malvo and John Allen Muhammad. The pair has been linked to 27 shootings across the country, including 10 fatal attacks in the Washington area.
Malvo, 27, told the Post in a rare interview that the look on the face of victim Linda Franklin's husband right after she was shot stands out in his memory of the rampage. Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst, was killed as she and her husband loaded supplies outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va.
"They are penetrating," Malvo said of Ted Franklin's eyes. "It is the worst sort of pain I have ever seen in my life. His eyes ... Words do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion and what I felt when I saw it. ... You feel like the worst piece of scum on the planet."
Malvo is serving a life sentence with no parole at a prison in southwest Virginia for killing Franklin. Muhammad was executed in Virginia in 2009
The sniper-style attacks all but paralyzed the nation's capital, as people were shot at random while going about their everyday life — pumping gas, buying groceries, and for one young boy, as he went to school. The shooters used a high-powered rifle, firing from the trunk of a modified Chevy Caprice until they were tracked down at a Maryland rest stop.
Malvo also repeated previous assertions that he was manipulated by the older Muhammad during the string of attacks that took place when Malvo was 17. But he acknowledges: "I was a monster."
Malvo has declined to respond to many media requests, including letters from The Associated Press. He was interviewed in 2010 for a cable TV special.
When asked by the Post what he would say to victims' families, the remorseful Malvo said there's no way to properly convey an apology.
"We can never change what happened," Malvo said. "There's nothing that I can say except don't allow me and my actions to continue to victimize you for the rest of your life."
He added: "Don't allow myself or Muhammad to continue to make you a victim for the rest of your life. It isn't worth it."
Linda Franklin's father, Charles Moore, was incredulous about the idea that victims' relatives would be able to forget about what Malvo and Muhammad did.
"There's no way. I can't believe that. No one can go through something like that," Moore said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
Moore said he believes his daughter's slaying contributed to his wife's death several years later.
"What he did just destroyed my family. I'll never be able to put it aside. Never," he said.
"There are things that stand out in your life that you think about. I'm 83 years old and I'll carry it to my grave."
Malvo expresses remorse in the interview with The Washington Post and urged the families of victims to try and forget about him and his partner John Allen Muhammad so they can move on. Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the deadly spree in the Washington area carried out by Malvo and John Allen Muhammad. The pair has been linked to 27 shootings across the country, including 10 fatal attacks in the Washington area.
Malvo, 27, told the Post in a rare interview that the look on the face of victim Linda Franklin's husband right after she was shot stands out in his memory of the rampage. Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst, was killed as she and her husband loaded supplies outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va.
"They are penetrating," Malvo said of Ted Franklin's eyes. "It is the worst sort of pain I have ever seen in my life. His eyes ... Words do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion and what I felt when I saw it. ... You feel like the worst piece of scum on the planet."
Malvo is serving a life sentence with no parole at a prison in southwest Virginia for killing Franklin. Muhammad was executed in Virginia in 2009
The sniper-style attacks all but paralyzed the nation's capital, as people were shot at random while going about their everyday life — pumping gas, buying groceries, and for one young boy, as he went to school. The shooters used a high-powered rifle, firing from the trunk of a modified Chevy Caprice until they were tracked down at a Maryland rest stop.
Malvo also repeated previous assertions that he was manipulated by the older Muhammad during the string of attacks that took place when Malvo was 17. But he acknowledges: "I was a monster."
Malvo has declined to respond to many media requests, including letters from The Associated Press. He was interviewed in 2010 for a cable TV special.
When asked by the Post what he would say to victims' families, the remorseful Malvo said there's no way to properly convey an apology.
"We can never change what happened," Malvo said. "There's nothing that I can say except don't allow me and my actions to continue to victimize you for the rest of your life."
He added: "Don't allow myself or Muhammad to continue to make you a victim for the rest of your life. It isn't worth it."
Linda Franklin's father, Charles Moore, was incredulous about the idea that victims' relatives would be able to forget about what Malvo and Muhammad did.
"There's no way. I can't believe that. No one can go through something like that," Moore said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
Moore said he believes his daughter's slaying contributed to his wife's death several years later.
"What he did just destroyed my family. I'll never be able to put it aside. Never," he said.
"There are things that stand out in your life that you think about. I'm 83 years old and I'll carry it to my grave."
He looks like Chris Brown.
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 @Gino That's a racial slur, and does not say anything of value.
Remorse should never be used as an excuse. If he weren't a monster he never would have commited the crimes in the first place.
@Gigantor! You are so right Gigantor! This guy is the epitomy of evil. I hope he suffers for the rest of his worthless life.
Oh Well there you are....scum and nothing else.
Since he basically hunted people for sport I don't feel a bit sorry for him, juvenile at the time or not.
He should have saved a bullet for himself.
shane +++, I dunno what to think of a troll whose problem is with commenters appalled by this freak's actions rather than the freak themselves. Â You sound like a guy who needs a slumber party with Ian Stawicki, Kyle Huff , Maurice Clemmons, Silas Cool, Kevin Cruz & Gary Ridgway. Â If you're still around by morning I'll buy you a dozen Top Pot's
shane +++, I dunno what to think of a troll whose problem is with commenters appalled by this freak's actions rather than the freak themselves. Â You sound like a guy who needs a slumber party with Ian Stawicki, Kyle Huff , Maurice Clemmons, Silas Cool, Kevin Cruz & Gary Ridgway. Â If you're still around by morning I'll buy you a dozen Top Pot's
I'm willing to bet that the families of those killed feel like they have been given a life sentence too. They probably have moved on with their lives, but this is not the kind of thing a person can just forget. This young man may feel badly, but I doubt at this point it makes one bit of difference to the survivors of the victums.
Every person calling for his death is clearly mentally ill. Get some anger management counseling, you socially maladroit egomaniacs. He's in jail for life, for crimes committed as a juvenile. Move to Iran where you'll fit in better with the prevailing political and moral philosophies.
 @shane +++ You're appalled by the barbarism of our society. Mentally ill may be a bit harsh though- many people are speaking from emotion here. Surely you can understand that. This kid hunted people down at random. It provokes a strong emotional response.
I do not want criminals to get a slap on the wrist and back on the streets- and I bet you don't either. I also don't want our prison system to be a bloody and inhumane thing where people are tortured and those of us paying the taxes that support prisons, by default, become as cruel as the worst people we place in prisons. And, I don't want vigilantes roaming the streets executing people who have not gone to trial. I want this person in prison forever.
Don't insult scum by comparing yourself to it. You are far, far worse than scum.
Felt like the worst piece of scum?
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Close enough, I suppose.Â
While I think its good he feels what appears to be genuine remorse, I still think he should have been executed for what he did.
 @Dredd57 He was only 17, dont get me wrong, a 17 year old knows what he was doing but he was also brain washed by mohammed, I think this guy belongs in prison for life but not gonna say execute the guy, he was just a dumb kid. Maybe i would have a different opinion though if one of the victims were a family member.Â
well, you felt like worst piece of scum? wrong!  you should have known you were worst piece of scum. forget about him and his partner so they can move on? no, i don't think they will forget you or your partner, pal.Â
Save it...you are scum.
If he felt like scum, well, that is because he is. Nuff said.
He was a juvenile at the time of the shootings. I think he's right: Don't let what has happened continue to victimize yourselves. True strength is in overcoming the past.
 @NKato Ummmmm....it does not matter....this scumbag killed people.  I hope he continues to know how much scum he is for the rest of his life.  I wish there was a thumbs down button on your comment
He's paying his dues right now with life in prison. My point is that the victims need to be able to at least move past what's been done. Clinging to the past has never done anybody any good.
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I don't see him as a sociopath, but rather a kid who didn't understand what was happening when he pulled the trigger. Today, he fully understands the gravity of his crimes, and he has said in this article that his victims should not let the past continue to victimize them.
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Think of it like this: If you let something like this haunt you for the rest of your life as a victim, you're just letting yourself get re-victimized (It's a psychological thing, not literal) as the years go on, and it can interfere with your ability to continue to be a productive member of society. (Along this train of thought, hypothesize for a moment: Why does PETA exist? Maybe it's because some dunderhead who saw a cute baby seal get bludgeoned to death by an Inuit's club couldn't come to grips with the truth of the situation and became a psychotic vegan, trying to force his/her views upon the world through a variety of stupid, absurd PR campaigns and publicity stunts.)
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Malvo is already spending his time in prison focusing on things that are productive (prison labor, reading/writing books, studying), instead of wallowing in self-pity and/or resentment for what he's done. He's come to grips with what he's done, accepted it, and moved on. Now, he's just serving his time - for the rest of his existence without the possibility of parole. It's basically the same as a death sentence, since you know you will die behind bars - you're just given the opportunity to be at least a bit productive for the sake of the prison ecosystem and possibly the society at large, with opportunities to try to teach other inmates the right path to being a proper citizen.
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Through all this, he will know this undeniable truth: that nothing he does now will bring back the lives he's taken. And that no matter how much remorse he shows, he will never set foot outside the walls of the prison system for the rest of his life.
 @NKato Some people, including people under 18, commit unforgivable crimes so heinous that death is the only appropriate response. Since society mistakenly did not see fit to end this young sociopath's life I hope a developing sense of guilt will drive him to end it himself.
Left unasked by this article is the question whether Malvo has rejected the Nation of Islam racist philosophy and admiration of al Queda that drove their murders.Â
 @LockesChild If you'd follow through the post article linked, you'll see that your broad assumptions are not quite the truth.
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 @WhatRJDid I did read that article and found the same blindness to the stated goals and background of Mohammed and Malvo during their murders. Not even a whitewash of the racist Nation of Islam; a complete painting out as if Mohammed came by his delusional racist distopia all on his own.
Well, he is the worst piece of scum.Â
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And his sentence of life without parole was too generous. A death sentence should have been the only sentence allowed. And if he was to be executed, it should be carried out in a fashion as every bit as horrible as his actions were. Death by firing squad or hanging. The needle would be too soft and easy.
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Sometimes there are crimes that are committed that demand a form of justice that really does fit the crime. This POS is a prime example of why it's needed.
 @Veteran You really think something as simple and final as death is a sufficient punishment? You think it's merciful to let Malvo spend the next sixty or seventy years penned up, unable to have a normal life, reminded every day of what he did? He'll be punished every day for the rest of what is likely to be a long life.
 @TheMadTurk It would be sufficient a penalty for those families of the people he killed in cold blood.Â
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Merciful? No. Nor is it merciful to have the families know this POS is still alive. Unable to have a normal life? He could very well have have had a normal life if he didn't kill his victims. Punished every day? Only if he thinks about it constantly. But that still is not punishment enough.Â
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And what about the cost of incarceration for this POS for the rest of his life? Firing Squad: $5.00 worth of ammo. Hanging: $15.00 for a good rope..
 @TheMadTurk "but that's not the way our criminal justice system works"
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No, it doesn't. Our criminal system, rather like our current economic system, allows activists to obstruct and delay for years. And then, after forcing the cost of execution up because of their obstruction, claim that execution is too expensive.
 @Veteran Yeah, well, there are multiple sources that show the costs of administering the death penalty is much greater than lifetime incarceration. Of course, you the way you see it. once the guilty verdict is pronounced the perp is taken to the firing wall immediately, but that's not the way our criminal justice system works, Sure, the cost would be much less, but imagine yourself in this situation. If you were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death, wouldn't you like the ability to try to prove otherwise?
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As for the families of the victims, their loved ones are dead. His death may indeed make them feel better, but it doesn't bring them back. They will remain angry and hurt for years whether he lives or dies. I just don't see death as a punishment in cases like this.
 @TheMadTurk Yet we never hear of people going to execution who are happy that they are not imprisoned for life. I wonder why that is, if life without parole is so awful.
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The fact is that the death sentence is the maximum punishment under the 8th Amendment. Even the criminals recognize this. Attempts to twist prison time into a worse punishment are mere sophistry.
 @TheMadTurk  @Veteran Agreed. Reading the linked article, hearing that he is in a small, isolated cell for 23 hours in the day, and not allowed contact with other inmates sounds like punishment. He is left alone, confined in a small space, to live with his guilt, which appears to be catching up with him.Â
Hope he actually believes what he is saying, but being the pessimist I am, he is probably just saying these things hoping to appeal his no parole sentence. Â
"They are penetrating," Malvo said of Ted Franklin's eyes. "It is the worst sort of pain I have ever seen in my life. His eyes. ... Words do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion and what I felt when I saw it. ... You feel like the worst piece of scum on the planet." You ARE scum Malvo, and you should have been executed right next to the OTHER scumbag.
....well Malvo, you probably have at least another 50 years to feel remorse.....that whole life without parole thing....remember?
 @Sydthepiper And, if the prospect of life without parole is too painful, I am sure Malvo can somehow end his own life. But somehow I doubt Malvo will ever take that step.