D.C. sniper waives rights to appeal

RICHMOND, Va., May 7 (UPI) -- John Allen Muhammad, the convicted "D.C. sniper," has waived all rights to appeal so Virginia can -- in his words -- "murder this innocent Black man."

Muhammad, who is on Virginia's deathrow for shooting Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas, Va., gas station in 2002, wrote to state prosecutors with the request to waive all rights to appeal, CNN reported Wednesday.

In the letter, dated April 23, Muhammad professed his innocence.

Following his conviction, Muhammad also was tried and sentenced to death in Maryland for six additional sniper murders.

His accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, who was 17 during the spree, also was convicted of murder but was sentenced to life in prison.

Police have said they believe the two were responsible for 10 murders in a spree that terrorized the Washington area in October 2002.

It is not known whether Muhammad's decision to waive his rights was influenced by the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that lethal injections, using certain protocols, are constitutionally permissible.

Muhammad's attorney, James Connell, said he had just met with Muhammad, and "when I left him today ... he did not want to be executed."