Sniper suspect linked to killing of neighbour

Police yesterday reopened the case of the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Tacoma woman on her doorstep in February, following the arrest on Thursday of two men for a series of sniper killings.

The family of Keenya Cook, 21, contacted police after apparently recognising alleged sniper John Allen Muhammad, 41, in news pictures. At the time of the shooting, police believed that the victim knew her killer. Mr Muhammad, then living in Washington state, was prosecuted for shoplifting a few days before her death.

It emerged yesterday that a note in which Mr Muhammad and John Malvo, 17, allegedly demanded $10m also warned police that any attempt to catch them would result in the need for "more body bags".

Late on Friday, prosecutors in Montgomery County, Maryland, where six of the shootings took place, filed six first-degree murder charges against the two suspects. Countyattorney Doug Gansler said he would seek the death penalty against Mr Muhammad and life imprisonment for Mr Malvo, who is too young to be executed.

But reports yesterday said Maryland's decision to push ahead had created a row, with federal authorities expressing concern and frustration over Mr Gansler's announcement. A senior Justice Department official reportedly called the decision "a great disappointment" and expressed concern at the competition between various authorities to take the lead in a case that will generate huge publicity.

Justice Department officials are still deciding whether to bring their own charges. One official said federal prosecutors could invoke the Hobbs Act, which allows the government to seek the death penalty in murders where killers try to extort money. Law enforcement sources said a letter left at the scene of the murder of a bus driver demanded $10m.

Earlier on Friday, officials in Montgomery, Alabama, filed murder charges against the two suspects and said they would seek the death penalty in the fatal shooting of a woman outside a liquor store on 21 September.

The police chief, John Wilson, said investigators believe Mr Muhammad fired the shots, though other reports yesterday said police believe the two men had taken turns in firing the shots that killed 10 people.

The key issue in deciding where the men will be prosecuted is which authority has the best chance of getting a death sentence. In one poll published yesterday, 84 per cent of people in the Washington area supported the death penalty for the two men.

It was also revealed yesterday that authorities were tipped off last summer that Mr Muhammad might be dangerous. Law enforcement officials said the FBI in Washington state interviewed a witness who claimed the Gulf war veteran was trying to obtain a silencer for his gun and spoke of killing police officers.

FBI agents and local police had concerns about some aspects of the witness's account and decided to treat the threat as a local issue of officer safety.

Authorities said emphatically that none of the information they received in June or July from the witness, Harjee Singh, suggested that Mr Muhammad and Mr Malvo would later cross the country and go on a random killing spree in the suburbs around the nation's capital, as they are now suspected of doing.

As investigators continued to probe what led the men to allegedly launch their killing spree, schoolchildren have been allowed outside for the first time in three weeks and sports matches got back to normal.

'Driving to work I pass four homicide scenes minutes from my home'

Liverpool-born David Mendick, a 41-year-old housing manager, has lived near Washington for more than a decade with his American wife, Naomi, and their three children. This is his account of how one family coped with the fear of the sniper stalking their area – and how the shadow was lifted.

I'm running in the Marine Corps Marathon today, and I'm looking forward to running in a straight line. No more zig-zagging. No more looking over my shoulder. I can just enjoy running, and not looking out for white box trucks or white vans.

When I got my son, Ethan, up for school on Thursday morning, he asked the same question he'd woken with for three weeks: "Dad, did they catch the bad guy yet?" At last the answer was yes. I hugged him really tightly, thinking of Dorothy waking up from her nightmare in the Wizard of Oz.

The final week was the worst of the three we spent in fear of the sniper. Last weekend we went to Colonial Williamsburg, as Naomi had a conference there. It was 100 miles from Montgomery County, where we live, and there had been no shootings for four days. I was looking forward to showing the historic town to my kids but on Saturday there was a shooting in nearby Ashburn. Was the sniper following us? We stayed in the hotel all weekend and went stir crazy.

Then came rumours that the sniper was going to target kids. The fear and paralysis in the community came to a head on Tuesday. My friend George called at 7am as I was about to take the kids to the bus and head on to the office.

The sniper had returned to his original hunting ground in our neighbourhood, George said. Another victim was dead and there were roadblocks everywhere. I left Ethan at home, screaming because he wanted to go to school, and took the back roads to the office, which took two hours. Normally I enjoy my morning commute, listening to sports radio, but last week I was passing four homicide scenes within minutes of my house.

With the confirmation by Montgomery County's police chief, Charles Moose, that the sniper was indeed threatening children, the fear reached a crescendo. It became harder and harder to convince the kids that they were safe; I found it hard to convince myself.

After three weeks and no progress people had given up. The despondency on Chief Moose's face was noticeable. Nobody went out. Hallowe'en would be cancelled. My marathon was in jeopardy. It was 11 September all over again.

And then came the end, right in our living room. The speed of events was breathtaking. At midnight on Wednesday we saw a photo of the sniper on television, and at 3am we saw his arrest. Naomi and I never left the couch.

I'd always envisioned a Bonnie and Clyde finale, but the calm of the arrest made it easier to tell the kids that the sniper was gone. We all gathered around the TV for Chief Moose's press conference on Thursday evening, and at the end we cheered and high-fived.

As I drove home on Friday, my daughter Mira called me to ask: "Dad, when you get home, can we go and play tennis?"

"Sure," I said. "Why not?"