Tacoma Death Linked to Sniper Suspect

Oct. 28 -- Authorities in Tacoma, Wash., have linked sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo to a shooting death of a 21-year-old woman whose aunt once worked for Muhammad's auto repair business.

Muhammed and Malvo also were linked to a shooting last spring at a Tacoma synagogue, but no one was injured in that incident, Tacoma police and representatives of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said at a news conference.

The announcement from Washington state comes as Muhammad and Malvo, already facing multiple murder charges in Maryland, were indicted today on capital murder and other charges in the sniper shootings in three Virginia counties. More indictments are expected.

Tonight, Tacoma Police Chief David Brame said Muhammad, 41,and Malvo, 17, are suspects in the killing of 21-year-oldKeenya Cook on Feb. 16. She was shot in the face at her home.

A Tacoma-area man contacted authorities last week and said he let Muhammad and Malvo borrow weapons, including a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, said Brame. "As a result, we now consider John Allen Muhammad and John LeeMalvo as suspects in the Keenya Cook homicide," the police chief said.

Investigators recovered three handguns and two rifles from theman, including two allegedly used in the crimes, Tacoma policespokesman Jim Mattheis said. Ballistics tests confirmed that bothweapons were used in separate shootings, he said.

Charges in D.C.-Area Shootings

Prosecutors from Spotsylvania, Hanover and Prince William counties in Virginia joined Maryland's Montgomery County in filing charges against Muhammad and Malvo in the sniper shootings that left 10 people dead and three wounded.

Last Friday, Montgomery County became the first of the seven jurisdictions affected by the serial sniper attacks to charge Muhammad and Malvo, filing six counts of murder against the pair.

In Spotsylvania County, Muhammad, 41, was charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Bridges at a gas station near Fredericksburg on Oct. 11, and with attempted capital murder and aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting of a woman in a crafts store parking lot on Oct. 4.