John Allen Muhammad, better known as the DC Sniper, is scheduled for execution tonight after the Supreme Court turned down his appeal. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has also turned down a plea for clemency. Muhammad’s lawyers argue that he should not be executed because he is mentally ill. With no further legal paths, the execution will go forward unless Gov. Kaine changes his mind and issues a last minute stay.
Muhammad, along with his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, were responsible for a wave of killings in the Washington DC area that left ten people dead in 2002. Notes were left demanding the government pay $10 million for the shootings to stop.