Washington sniper executed

11 Nov 2009, 1:00 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The US Supreme Court quashed a last-ditch appeal from the sniper's lawyers, who argue that he is mentally ill and should not be executed. (AAP)

The US Supreme Court quashed a last-ditch appeal from the sniper's lawyers, who argue that he is mentally ill and should not be executed. (AAP)

Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad has died after being administered a lethal injection.

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The Washington sniper has been executed for a three-week reign of terror in 2002 that left 10 people dead, paralysed the capital and triggered one of the largest man hunts in US history.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine turned down a last-minute plea for clemency, ending any hopes 48-year-old John Muhammad had of escaping a lethal injection scheduled for 9pm on Tuesday (1300 AEDT Wednesday).

"Having carefully reviewed the petition for clemency and judicial opinions regarding this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts.

"Accordingly, I decline to intervene," Kaine said in a statement.

That decision came only a few hours after the US Supreme Court quashed a last-ditch appeal from the sniper's lawyers, who argue that he is mentally ill and should not be executed.

"The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to the chief justice and by him referred to the court is denied," said Monday's Supreme Court ruling, according to a copy obtained by AFP.

In his prison cell at the Greensville Correctional Centre near Jarratt, Virginia, Muhammad was unmoved when he heard the Supreme Court's decision, according to his lawyer Jonathan Sheldon.

"The guy is delusional, he's paranoid."

The motive remains unclear although Muhammad's second ex-wife alleges he intended to shoot her as one his victims and reclaim custody of their three children.

During his shooting spree, Muhammad, a skilled marksman, picked off victims with a high-power sniper rifle and scope seemingly at will.

The random killings spooked an area still living in dread of a repeat of the September 11 attacks and deadly anthrax mailings a year earlier.

People would squat down by their cars as they pumped gas, run from their vehicles into work, or just stay home.

Muhammad killed each of his victims with a single bullet fired from a distance, and was apprehended after an exhaustive manhunt by federal and local police.

He was sentenced to death in 2004 following his trial for one of the fatal shootings, that of Dean Meyers, who was killed while filling up with petrol at a suburban Virginia filling station.

It was for the killing of Meyers that he faced execution on Tuesday.

Muhammad, a convert to Islam, refused to choose whether to die by lethal injection or face the electric chair. Therefore the authorities chose for him, deciding the method would be lethal injection.

Officials said Muhammad was first injected with a drug to put him to sleep, then a second to stop him breathing, before a third that will stop his heart.

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