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Authorities: D.C. sniper may have shot man in Clearwater in '02

Associated Press file photo (2006)

John Allen Muhammad is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Tuesday in Virginia.

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TBO.com

Published: November 9, 2009

John Allen Muhammad, one of the snipers who terrorized the Washington, D.C., area seven years ago, may have shot a man on a Clearwater golf course, but authorities are skeptical whether they can prove it.

The hurdle in getting the evidence is promising Lee Boyd Malvo, the accomplice in the shootings, immunity from prosecution, police say.

It is something the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office is not willing to do, Clearwater police spokeswoman Joelle Castelli said.

"There may not be closure in this case," Castelli said, referring to the shooting of Albert Michalczyk on the seventh hole of the Glen Oaks golf course in May 2002.

Michalczyk, then 72, was shot once in the chest, but the wound was not lethal. Police say he was shot with a small-caliber rifle, not a large one like Malvo and Muhammad were accused of using in the 2002 killing spree that left 10 people dead and terrorized the Washington region for weeks.

Malvo, who was 17 when the shootings took place, was sentenced to life without parole. Muhammad was given a death sentence and is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Tuesday in Virginia.

In 2006, Malvo reportedly confessed to four additional shootings — including the Glen Oaks incident — that had not previously been linked to him.

Malvo would only talk to police in jurisdictions that promised not to prosecute him, a deal that some agencies weren't willing to make.

Michalczyk's shooting remains unsolved. But he took Malvo's confession in 2006 as confirmation of something he long suspected.

"My wife immediately thought it was these guys," Michalczyk said at the time. "We put two and two together, but we never came up with four. Now, we are coming up with four."

The other shootings Malvo confessed to were in California, Texas and Louisiana.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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