'Snipers' to face trial in state with second highest rate of executions

The two men accused of carrying out the sniper attacks in the Washington area are to be prosecuted first by Virginia, a the state which can sentence both of them to death if convicted, the Bush administration announced yesterday.

The Attorney General, John Ashcroft, explained why Virginia was selected. He said: "We believe the first prosecutions should occur in those jurisdictions that provide the best law, the best facts and the best range of available penalties."

Since the arrest of John Allen Muhammad, 41, and 17-year-old John Lee Malvo, there has been an unseemly struggle between prosecutors in around half a dozen authorities to be the first to take on the case. The Federal Justice Department also filed charges against the men and could have taken on the case.

However, Mr Ashcroft said that Mr Muhammad would be handed over to authorities in Virginia's Prince William county, where one victim, Harold Meyers, was killed on 9 October while refuelling his car. He said John Malvo would be tried separately in Fairfax county, where an FBI analyst, Linda Franklin, 47, was shot dead while loading her car.

Observers said this suggested that investigators may have evidence pointing to each of the men being the gunman in different shootings. The selection of Virginia as location is significant. Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976, Virginia has executed 86 people, second only to Texas. By contrast, Maryland has carried out just a handful of executions and the killing of criminals aged under 18 is prohibited.

In addition to the shootings around the Washington area, the suspects have also been charged with murders in Alabama and Louisiana, and are also being investigated over shootings in Atlanta, Washington state and Tucson, Arizona. Altogether, investigators believe the pair may be responsible for at least 20 shootings that killed 15 people and wounded five others.