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Charges against sniper suspects
(CNN) -- Charges against John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, continue to grow as various jurisdictions in the Washington-area sniper shootings and elsewhere file complaints. Ten slayings and three woundings occurred in seven jurisdictions in the Washington area during a three-week period in October. Other jurisdictions where Muhammad and Malvo were known to have lived or passed through also are looking at unsolved shootings that might be linked to the suspects. The following is a breakdown of the charges that have been filed and other legal action so far reported. United States•The Justice Department on October 29 filed a 20-count criminal complaint against Muhammad. The complaint did not name Malvo because he is a juvenile. The federal charges against Muhammad include: Conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States; conspiracy to affect interstate commerce by extortion and threats of violence; affecting interstate transportation by extortion and threats of physical violence; interstate transportation in the aid of racketeering; firing a weapon in a school zone; and use of a firearm during commission of a crime of violence causing death of a person. Maryland•Montgomery County: Muhammad and Malvo were each charged October 25 with six counts of first-degree murder in fatal shootings that took place October 2, 3 and 22. Authorities said they plan to try Malvo as an adult and to seek the death penalty against him and Muhammad. •Prince George's County: Charges of attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder were filed October 31 again Muhammad and Malvo in the October 7 shooting of a 13-year-old boy outside a middle school in Bowie. If convicted, the two could face a maximum life sentence for each charge. The boy continues to recover in a hospital. Virginia•Spotsylvania County: Muhammad was indicted October 28 on charges of capital murder and conspiracy to commit capital murder in the October 11 shooting death of a man near Fredericksburg and the October 4 shooting of a woman in Fredericksburg. Prosecutors brought the same charges against Malvo in juvenile court. •Fairfax County: No charges have been filed yet. The Fairfax County commonwealth attorney said investigators have evidence that shows Malvo was the shooter in the October 14 killing of a woman in Falls Church, The New York Times reported. Fairfax County prosecutor Robert F. Horan Jr. told CNN it was equally possible that Muhammad or Malvo was the shooter and that authorities were awaiting forensic evidence. •Hanover County: Muhammad was indicted October 28 on charges of attempted capital murder and related felonies, including attempted murder in the commission of a terrorist act, in the October 19 shooting outside a Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland that left a 37-year-old traveler from Florida in critical condition. Identical charges were brought against Malvo in juvenile court, and the county will seek to prosecute him as an adult. •Prince William County: Muhammad was indicted October 28 on two capital charges of murder and murder while committing a terrorist act in the October 9 shooting death of Dean Harold Meyers in Manassas. Other charges include murder conspiracy and use of a firearm. Similar charges were being brought against Malvo in juvenile court. Prosecutor Paul Ebert said the double capital murder counts for one death were brought under a new law enacted after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Alabama•Montgomery: A single charge of capital murder was filed October 25 against Muhammad and Malvo in the September 21 shooting death of a woman during a liquor store robbery. Louisiana•Baton Rouge: Arrest warrants were issued October 31 charging Muhammad and Malvo with first-degree murder in the September 23 killing of a shopkeeper after ballistics tests matched the murder weapon with the same Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle identified in the sniper shootings.
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