VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Witnesses at the capital murder trial of John Allen Muhammad said Friday a note asking $$@$!10 million for the sniper killing to stop went unread by authorities.
Testifying in a Virginia Beach, Va., court, the witnesses said the $$@$!10 million handwritten note was found tacked to a tree after more than a dozen sniper attacks.
The witnesses said authorities failed to read it before the deadline set by the shooter, the Washington Post reported.
The note was discovered in the woods behind the Ashland, Va., steakhouse where Jeffrey Hopper was shot Oct. 19, 2002.
The note was read to jurors as the second week of testimony ended in the trial of the accused sniper.
Investigators testified the note was inside a Ziploc bag decorated with Halloween cartoons, with the bag then tacked to a tree.
The note complained about "the incompetence" of police hotlines and a priest who had dismissed telephone calls attempting to establish communication.
Hopper was one of three survivors in the three-week shooting spree that left 10 people dead and three wounded in the Washington area a year ago.
