The Ashland Sniper Letters...

Meet the suspects in this horrible killing spree:

John Allen Muhammad, age 41. Former Army sergeant and demolition's specialist who served in the Persian Gulf War. Changed his name and converted to Islam in 200l.

John Lee Malvo, age 17. High school dropout who had lived with Muhammad in a homeless shelter. Arrested, but out on bond for being in the US illegally.

Below are several samples of the sniper's handwriting.

It isn't known for sure which of the 2 suspects wrote the letters... but it's my thinking that it was Malvo. The use of lined paper, the obvious spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors point to a immature person and someone with minimal education.

(To maintain the integrity of the sample, the following images are large and will take
a few moments to download. Thank you for your patience.)

Figure 1

A few general comments:

There is a very calculated, callous, and deliberate quality to the message, which gives it a very heavy - menacing tone. Look at the unusually firm strokes, and also the slow and deliberate speed of the writing... every letter of every word is obvious. None of the letters "fade" at the end.

Slant
There is a heavy left or backward slant in part of the writing. And there are parts that are both vertical and rightward slanting. This inconsistency of slant points to a person who is very emotionally unstable.

Even though the notes are written on lined paper, the writing still fluctuates both above and below the lines... again showing us that the writer is unreliable and can be swayed to change directions easily.

Spacing and margins
There are large gaps between words, indicating a person who will do whatever he/she wants without regards to the consequences.

All of the samples have irregular left margins, which tells us that the writer doesn't care about with social standards, but prefers to make things up as he goes along.... do his own thing.

Pressure
The writing is very "heavy". There is a tremendous, deliberate force in every stroke... both downward and upward strokes. The downward stroke shows us a person who is excessively concerned with personal survival. The upward stroke indicates a need for release of stress. In this case, the release came in the form of killing another person.

Now, let's look at some specifics of the writing...

The "t-bars".
The t-bars in the samples are very low which indicates a low self-esteem. They are heavy and thick, which tells us the writer is cocky and tries to impress others with his abilities, when in fact he is very insecure.

The "m's" and "n's" are rounded on the top.
This indicates a person who is a slow thinker... not at all fast on his feet. He thinks about things a long time before he makes up his mind, but then can be easily swayed to change his thinking again if his choice is questioned.

The lower case letter "k" in the words Rockville, joke, and take...
Notice that the letter "k" in these words is larger than the letters surrounding it. This stroke signifies defiance and a resistance to authority.

We ask ourselves WHY would 2 guys go on a shooting spree that would end with the senseless killing of 10 and wounding of 3 innocent people? Unfortunately, we may never know the answer to that question.

Till next time...