Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Have trials in Virginia

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2002 | 9:01 a.m.

BEFORE ALL OF THE WEEPERS flood our television sets with their tears, the prosecutors from Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia, Alabama and the federal government must make a major decision. Very simply, all of them should back off and allow Virginia to prosecute John Allen Muhammad and his buddy John Lee Malvo. The two killers of unsuspecting and innocent people deserve and should be given the penalty of death.

Don't start crying because Malvo, the little punk, may be only 17 or 18 years of age. If he pulled the trigger of the murder weapon even one time he should join his mentor on death row. Yesterday The New York Times reported, "Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr., the prosecutor for Fairfax County, said investigators believed that the teenager, John Lee Malvo, was the killer in the Oct. 14 shooting of Linda Franklin, 47, an analyst with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was felled by a single shot to the head inside a parking garage at a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va.

" 'There will be evidence that the juvenile was the shooter,' Mr. Horan said. He refused to provide any more details."

If the Virginia prosecutor can prove this accusation in court, the sentence of death should apply to Malvo. Virginia could have a double execution. Of course, you remember the victim, Linda Franklin. She, with her husband, was putting packages in the car when killed. She was also the mother of two children.

Muhammad and Malvo should be tried in Virginia where the families of their victims will receive justice. Since 1976, Virginia has executed 86 convicted criminals and today there are 26 still on death row. Maryland has a moratorium on capital punishment and, despite a high crime rate, has only had three executions since 1976. Alabama has had 24 executions during this time frame, but 189 are still sitting on death row. The District of Columbia doesn't have a death penalty. Only Virginia and Alabama execute killers below the age of 18.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening of Maryland insists that the death penalty moratorium "will not have an impact" on the trial of Muhammad. But what about Malvo who, even if a killer, can slip away because he is 17 years old? Then he can be interviewed on television from his prison cell 10, 20 or 30 years from now when the next killer runs loose. I can hear it now, "Mr. Malvo, what was the killer thinking about as he gunned down the little girl and her mother?" There's nothing like having a real live killer with other experts to juice up the evening news. Barbara Walters, if still around, can score big with an interview of Malvo on 20/20.

Please, spare us the agony of hearing sad tales of childhood nightmares and parental neglect of the killers. Just stop and think about the pain, suffering and nightmares they have given the families of their victims. Just imagine what the six children and wife of businessman Kenneth Bridges, one of their victims, have been experiencing since he was gunned down. Also, let's not forget about the physical pain and mental anguish felt by those they left behind wounded.

The sooner Muhammad and Malvo receive a fair trial, with the evidence needed to convict them, the better off we, as Americans, will be. If found guilty, the state best prepared to carry out justice is Virginia.

Save your tears for the victims they have killed and the families they have destroyed. Right now, I'm not prepared to stomach any weepy conversations about the death penalty being cruel and unusual punishment.