Convicted D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, who killed 10 people in October 2002, has been transferred from Virginia’s supermax prison, Red Onion State Prison, to Keen Mountain Correctional Center, WTOP has learned.
Malvo was 17 when he committed the crimes, and was arrested with John Allen Muhammad, after the two terrorized the region, killing strangers in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
For the past 22 years, Malvo has been housed in Red Onion, classified as Maximum Security, by the Virginia Department of Corrections. According to Virginia corrections officials, Keen Mountain is classified as Security Level 4, housing inmates serving life sentences, with no disruptive behavior for at least the past 24 months.
In September 2022, Malvo was denied parole.
Contacted by WTOP, Malvo’s attorney Craig Cooley said his client was recently transferred. Asked how and why Malvo was moved from Virginia’s most secure prison, Cooley said, “Once he’s in the Department of Corrections, it’s up to them where he serves.”
Cooley said his client has been incarcerated at Red Onion for 22 years. “I’m sure he meets the criteria for the stepdown,” from supermax to Security Level 4.
Malvo was 17 when he and John Allen Muhammad shot and killed 10 people and wounded three others over a three-week span in October 2002. Multiple other victims were shot and killed across the country in the prior months, as the duo made their way to the nation’s capital region from Washington state.
Malvo was convicted of capital murder in Virginia and sentenced to life in prison without parole. But a series of Supreme Court rulings and a change in Virginia law gave Malvo the opportunity to seek parole after serving nearly 20 years in custody.
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In August 2023, Malvo filed a federal lawsuit, accusing prison officials of violating his constitutional rights and knowingly putting his life at risk in retaliation for complaining about conditions at Red Onion.
Malvo said he was placed in a unit with a known gang leader, who had threatened him.
WTOP contacted a spokesman with Virginia Department of Corrections on Monday morning, seeking specifics on when and why Malvo was transferred to Keen Mountain. By Monday evening, the spokesman had not provided details, but said they were being gathered by corrections staff.
Online court filings in the federal civil rights lawsuit make no mention of Malvo being transferred from Red Onion. As of his last filing, a motion for discovery, Malvo listed Red Onion as his return address in a handwritten envelope.
Separately, Malvo has been ordered to be resentenced in Maryland. In 2006, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sentenced Malvo to six life sentences without the possibility of parole.
However, in August 2022, Maryland’s Court of Appeals ruled that Malvo had to be resentenced to comply with the a 2012 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that limited life sentences for juveniles.
According to online records, after previous delays, Malvo is scheduled to be resentenced in Montgomery County Circuit Court beginning Dec. 2, 2024.
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