Prosecution links sniper suspect to Ala. slaying

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Prosecutors on Friday sought to implicate sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad as the triggerman in a shooting at an Alabama liquor store that left one woman dead and another wounded.

The prosecution relied on the testimony of medical examiner Emily Ward to bolster their theory that Muhammad, rather than fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, fired the shots outside the liquor store.

Muhammad is on trial in the slaying of a man at a Virginia gas station during last year's sniper rampage, but one of the capital murder charges accuses him of multiple killings over three years. That means prosecutors must prove at least one more murder committed by Muhammad to obtain a conviction on that count.

Ward testified that Claudine Parker, 52, died after being shot in the back with what was probably a high-powered rifle. Ward said the bullet broke through Parker's spinal cord and created a "snowstorm effect" as bullet fragments broke off in her body.

She said the same thing happened with the bullet that wounded Kellie Adams, who survived the shooting.

Witnesses in the trial earlier said they saw Malvo carrying a handgun - and not a rifle - as he robbed the women.

On Friday, prosecutors showed the handgun recovered from the scene, a tiny weapon smaller than the palm of a hand.

Muhammad and Malvo have been accused of shooting 19 people, killing 13 and wounding six in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

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