High court clears D.C. Sniper's execution

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to delay the execution of "D.C. Sniper" John Allen Muhammad, who went on a shooting spree seven years ago.

Justices also refused to hear an appeal filed by Muhammad's lawyers, Scotusblog.com reported.

Muhammad is scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Virginia for the Oct. 9, 2002, murder of Dean Meyers, 53, a civil engineer from Gaithersburg, Md., who was shot at a gas station near Manassas, Va.

Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, said in a statement the case "highlights once again the perversity of executing inmates before their appeals process has been fully concluded." However, the statement said the three justices didn't dissent from the Supreme Court's refusal to hear Muhammad's legal claims.

Muhammad was the mastermind of the slayings he and Lee Boyd Malvo committed in which 10 people at random were killed by sniper fire. Malvo, a juvenile at the time of the shootings, is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.