Good Riddance

October of 2002 was a scary time for my wife and I. At that time an unknown person (or persons) was shooting--usually fatally--people at random in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area. As the days passed, another person would be gunned down and the shooter would vanish into the fall air. One of the murders occurred less than a block from where I often bought gas. Although nobody had been shot in their home, we covered some windows that allowed a view into our living room from the busy street outside, and we watched the nightly press conferences given by local law enforcement. An angel of death that seemed unstoppable roamed the area, and nobody was safe.

Finally on October 24 John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were captured, and we breathed a sigh of relief. Days later we became parents.

As I write this, John Allen Muhammad has 5 minutes until execution by lethal injection. Having been turned away from the Supreme Court and denied clemency by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, it is all but certain that Mr. Muhammad will die tonight.

I know that there are problems with the death penalty. I know that innocent people have been put to death, and I support efforts to make the application of the death penalty fair and just. However, I also continue to believe that some people deserve the death penalty, and that justice demands it. And I believe that this is one of those cases.

In the day that all wounds are healed, I hope that John Allen Muhammad will be a new person--fit to live among saints. But for now I say good riddance; let justice be done.

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To read about how the case unfolded, see here.

Update: John Allen Muhammad died at 9:11 pm.

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