Testimony: Sniper suspect wanted out of 'situation'

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - A few months before the Washington-area sniper attacks for which he and John Allen Muhammad were arrested, a teenage Lee Boyd Malvo sought a way out of his "situation," Muhammad's first wife testified Tuesday.

The letter in which he asked for help was not read to the jury, and it was unclear what situation Malvo wanted to escape.

Malvo's lawyers contend Muhammad brainwashed him and molded the young man into a killer to help him carry out the sniper attacks that killed 10 people in and around the nation's capital in October 2002.

Muhammad's first wife, Carol Williams, said Malvo wrote a letter to her niece in the summer of 2002, when Muhammad and Malvo were visiting her family in Baton Rouge, La.

Malvo, who had been introduced as Muhammad's son, was "asking for help to get out of the situation he was in," Williams said. She said Malvo and Muhammad left Baton Rouge before any members of her family could find a way to help Malvo.

Malvo's lawyers plan to introduce the letter to the jury today, with the anticipated testimony of the niece, LaToria Williams.

In other testimony Tuesday, Muhammad's son with Williams, Lindbergh Williams, said his father took advantage of other people's weaknesses to manipulate them.

Lindbergh Williams, 21, stayed with Muhammad in Washington state for a summer 10 years ago under a custody arrangement. He said Muhammad convinced him his mother had abused him.

"My father was a manipulator. If he sees a weakness, he'll take advantage," Lindbergh Williams testified. He said it took him several months to trust his mother again after he was returned to her.

Defense lawyer Thomas Walsh said Lindbergh Williams will visit his father Wednesday in jail.

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