Sniper execution leaves unsolved slayings

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By Matthew Barakat ASSOCIATED PRESS

It galled her to do it, but Sarah Dillon was desperate for answers, so she wrote letters to convicted snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo: If you murdered my son, please confess, she wrote.

The Texas woman got no reply.

"I've been waiting for answers for seven years," said Mrs. Dillon, who has taken to wearing a button that reads "Billy Gene Dillon is a very important person" as a reminder that his killing remains unsolved.

Sarah Dillon is not the only person with unanswered questions about the killing spree initiated by Muhammad and Malvo seven years ago, culminating in 13 shootings and 10 deaths over a three-week span that terrorized the Washington region.

As Virginia prepares to execute Muhammad on Tuesday, authorities are unable to answer perhaps the most basic question about the killings: How many people did he and Malvo shoot and kill?

The shooting rampage in October 2002 is well-documented. Beginning on Oct. 2, Muhammad and Malvo shot 13 people at random with a high-powered rifle, firing from the trunk of a modified, beat-up Chevy Caprice. Ten were killed before authorities finally tracked down the pair at a Maryland rest stop.

But the sniper shootings started before Muhammad and Malvo reached the Beltway, with a number of victims killed or wounded as the duo drove across the country.

Investigators have clearly linked them to some of these prelude shootings, though they have never stood trial for them. Other events fall into a gray area - police have suspicions, perhaps, but no proof.

The question became even murkier in 2006, when Malvo reportedly confessed to four additional shootings, including two killings, that had not been linked to him.

If Malvo's reported confessions are accepted as true, it would mean he and Muhammad are responsible for 27 shootings resulting in 17 deaths in 10 states (Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Washington, Georgia, Texas, California, Florida, Arizona and Louisiana), plus the District of Columbia.