Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a juvenile sentencing bill into law this week that creates the possibility for the parole of convicted D.C. sniper Lee Malvo.
The new law allows people serving life sentences for crimes committed before the age of 18 to be considered for release after they have served 20 years in prison.
Lee Boyd Malvo, 35, received four life sentences in Virginia for his participation in the greater Washington, D.C., area sniper shootings that killed 10 people in 2002. A 17-year-old at the time, Malvo claimed he was indoctrinated by John Allen Muhammad and convinced to take part in a crime spree that stretched across the United States. Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.
The Supreme Court was weighing whether Malvo deserves a new hearing as a result of recent rulings barring life sentences for juveniles, but Malvo’s lawyers dropped the case after learning of the new sentencing rules in Virginia.
Malvo’s life sentence will remain in effect, but he is now eligible for parole in 2024, according to Fox 5 DC.
Malvo also faces six life sentences without the possibility of parole in Maryland and is challenging those sentences in a separate proceeding. He additionally could be charged with murder in other states, according to the New York Times.
“I was a monster,” Malvo said about his actions in 2012. “If you look up the definition, that’s what a monster is. I was a ghoul. I was a thief. I stole people’s lives. I did someone else’s bidding just because they said so. … There is no rhyme or reason or sense.”
Some family members of the victims of Malvo’s attack expressed dismay at the thought of his parole.
“I’m not ready for that all,” said Cheryl Shaw, whose father was killed during Malvo’s and Muhammad’s crime spree. “He’s where he’s supposed to be.”
