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FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, already on death row for his role in a killing spree that left 10 people dead, will face a second death-penalty prosecution beginning this month.
Fairfax County officials said Wednesday that Muhammad will be arraigned June 22 on capital murder charges stemming from the slaying of FBI analyst Linda Franklin outside a Home Depot on Oct. 14, 2002.
Muhammad earlier was convicted in another Virginia county and sentenced to death for the Oct. 9, 2002, murder of Dean Harold Meyers near Manassas. Defense lawyers are appealing the conviction.
Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. has said he wants to put Muhammad on trial again as insurance in case Muhammad's original conviction is overturned.
Muhammad's defense lawyers have said a second trial is mere "bloodlust" and should be delayed until appeals are resolved in the initial case.
Muhammad's accomplice in the sniper killings, 19-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for Franklin's slaying.
Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, who obtained the death penalty against Muhammad and would most likely be next in line to prosecute Malvo, has said he wants to wait for the outcome of a Supreme Court case on the execution of juveniles before deciding whether to proceed.
Malvo was 17 at the time of the 2002 sniper spree, which left 10 people dead and three others seriously wounded in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., over a three-week span. | 
