Beltway Sniper Marries in Prison
by Jayson Hawkins
For three weeks in October of 2002, the residents of the Washington, D.C. area lived in fear of unknown assassins taking aim at random victims. Thirteen people were shot during that period; 10 died. Perhaps the only thing more shocking than the arbitrary nature of the crime spree was the identity of the snipers: a middle-aged man, John Allen Muhammad, and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo.
Muhammad was depicted as the mastermind behind the murders. He received the death penalty and was executed in 2009. Malvo, only 17 at the time of the killings, was believed to have been heavily influenced by Muhammad. Convicted in eight of the slayings, Malvo received sentences of life without parole for each. Under current laws in Maryland and Virginia, he will never leave prison.
Malvo, a native of Jamaica, has managed to find a measure of joy and normalcy amidst his incarceration. In early March 2020, he wed a woman whom he had been writing and visiting with for the previous two years. The woman’s identity was not revealed, but two of Malvo’s attorneys described her as close to his own age and “an absolutely wonderful individual.”
Carmeta Albarus, part of Malvo’s original defense team, served as a witness at the ceremony and said the prison was “very accommodating.” She remembered feeling “overwhelming sadness that this boy was taken down this path” after his convictions in 2003. “But when I left there after the wedding, I left with overwhelming joy that two people could find joy the way they have.”
Source: washingtonpost.com
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More from this issue:
- The Toughest Love, by Julia Lurie
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $400,000 Settlement in Lawsuit over Kentucky Prisoner’s Starvation Death, by Matthew Clarke
- Why Did 77 Ohio Prisoners Die of COVID-19, but Just 10 in Pennsylvania?, by Brie Zeltner, Cid Standifer
- New York Jail Accused of Discrimination by Female Prisoners, by Kevin Bliss
- BOP Inspector General Rips State for Failure to Control COVID-19 at Lompoc in California, by Derek Gilna
- Dark Web Creator Petitions President Trump for Clemency, by Edward Lyon
- Growing Need to Protect Attorney-Client Emails, by Jayson Hawkins
- Prison Postcard: Life in the Time of COVID, Correctional Center, Virginia, by Daniel A. Rosen
- New York Governor Cuomo Creates Prison Nursing Home During Pandemic, by Anthony Accurso
- GEO Group and CoreCivic Lose Critical Financial Support, by Keith Sanders
- Danish Funds Invest In American Private Prisons, by David Reutter
- $12.5 Million Settlement for Oklahoma Prisoner’s In-Custody Death Riled Sheriff’s Race, by Kevin Bliss
- Philadelphia Jails to Release Prisoners Earlier in the Day, by Bill Barton
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Reverses “Dangerousness” Finding in Involuntary Commitment of Schizophrenic Man, by David Reutter
- Michigan Settles Sex Abuse Claims by 1,300 Former Juvenile Offenders Housed With Adults for $80 Million, by David Reutter
- Report: New Jersey Women’s Prison Promoted Culture of Abuse, by Kevin Bliss
- Missouri Downsizing Prisons to Save Cash, by Bill Barton
- Trump v. Biden on Criminal Justice, by Charles Sloan-Hillier, Christopher Zoukis
- Alaska Supreme Court Upholds Dismissal of Delusional Prisoner’s Medical Malpractice Claim, by Dale Chappell
- $300,000 a Year Not Enough to Convince Psychiatrists to Work in California Prisons, by Dale Chappell
- DC Federal Court Enters Partial Preliminary Injunction Against District Jails For COVID-19 Deficiencies, by Derek Gilna
- Poetry for the Prisoners’ Soul, by Edward Lyon
- Damage to South Carolina Prisons Shifts Prisoners to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, by Derek Gilna
- Offensive Facebook Posts Cost Wisconsin Warden His Job, by Kevin Bliss
- Mother of Decapitated Prisoner Sues California Prison Officials for Housing Her Son with Prisoner Who Tried to Murder Previous Cellmate, by Matthew Clarke
- More Than Half of Chicago’s COVID-19 Cases Linked to Cook County Jail, by Dale Chappell
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Unconstitutional Statute Authorizing Forcible Medication of Involuntarily Committed Prisoner, by Matthew Clarke
- Wildfires Threaten Prisoners in West, While New California Law Helps Prisoner-Firefighters to Continue Work After Release, by Dale Chappell
- National Guard Called in to Help Run Indiana State Prisons, by Dale Chappell
- Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Pay-To-Vote for Florida Felons Who Completed Sentences, by David Reutter
- The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994: 25 Years Later, Where Do We Stand?, by Dale Chappell
- Ford Foundation President’s Support to Replace Rikers With Other Jails Criticized, by Chad Marks
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- Conditions at South Carolina Juvenile Facility Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
- How Kamala Harris’ Orange County, California “Snitch” Scandal Investigation Imploded, by Derek Gilna
- First Wrongful Death Claim Against San Quentin Prison Filed Over COVID-19 Death, by Dale Chappell
- $420,000 Settlement in Lawsuit Over Opioid Withdrawal Death in Georgia Jail, by Matthew Clarke
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- Mental Health and Prison Systems in Major Need of Reform, by Kevin Bliss
- NYC Floating Jail May Finally be Closed, by Jayson Hawkins
- Fourth Circuit Holds South Carolina DOC Lawyers Entitled to Qualified Immunity, by David Reutter
- New Study Shows “Tough on Crime” Generation Spent More Time in Prison Despite Falling Crime Rate, by Dale Chappell
- Beltway Sniper Marries in Prison, by Jayson Hawkins
- Prisoners Evacuated but ICE Detainees in Louisiana Suffer During Hurricane Laura, by Edward Lyon
- Fifth Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Over Texas Jail Prisoner’s Death, by Matthew Clarke
- News in Brief
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- Financial Pressure Finally Brings Police Reform, June 15, 2023
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- Arizona Prisoner Condemned Again for Cellmate’s Murder, May 1, 2023
- U.S. Response to Haitian Crisis: Fund More Prisons, April 1, 2023
- Former State Prison Guards in Georgia Sentenced for Prisoner Assaults and Cover-Up, April 1, 2023
- After Years of Hard Work and Dedication, Adnan Syed Is Freed by Serendipity, March 15, 2023
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