Recent but undated photo from Virginia Department of Corrections shows convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, 48The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block the scheduled execution of the mastermind of a string of deadly shootings in the Washington, D.C. area seven years ago.
John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday night in the southeastern state of Virginia for the murder of a man at a gas station in Manassas, located 51 kilometers southwest of Washington.
Muhammad's lawyers had argued that their client was mentally ill during his trial, and should not have been allowed to represent himself.
The Supreme Court did not give a reason for its refusal to hear Muhammed's appeal, but three of the nine justices complained that the process had been rushed because the execution date was set before the court was scheduled to discuss the case.
John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said Virginia's action highlights "the perversity of executing inmates before their appeals process has been fully concluded."
Muhammad's last chance to avoid execution Tuesday is Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine, who could grant the convicted killer clemency.
Muhammad and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, killed a total of 10 people during a three-week shooting rampage in 2002 across Virginia, Maryland and Washington.
Malvo, who was 17 years old at the time of the shootings, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole in Virginia. The two men are also suspected in several murders in Alabama, Arizona and Louisiana.
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