Lee Boyd Malvo Case

Synopsis of Incident

Starting from October 2nd through October 22nd, 2002, a total of 10 fatalities were committed by John Allen Mohammad and his younger 17-year-old counterpart, Lee Boyd Malvo. This case quickly became a public crisis because of the sporadicness of the killings, the lack of specificity to race, gender, or age, and the increased rampage in the DMV area. All killings were fulfilled using a Bushmaster.223 caliber rifle out of the back of a blue Chevy Caprice. Ultimately, both perpetrators were convicted to life in prison without parole, while Mohammad was put on death row and executed on November 10th, 2009. What was highly striking was how a 17-year-old was found guilty of taking the lives of most of the victims and what were

Bearing that in mind, the biological factors attributed to this are genetic makeup, hormones, physical health, and IQ. Criminological theory, explicitly Cesare Lombroso's biological positivism theory, denotes that a person is or is not born a criminal. While this has mostly been disproven, there remain fragments from his theory that current criminologists have built upon. In connection to Lee Boyd Malvo specifically, there is a strong argument for his underdeveloped prefrontal cortex and his actions; thus, the lack of decision-making skills, impulse control, and emotional control contribute to a higher likelihood of committing devious acts (Ling et al., 2019). Adding onto that, possessing an abnormal amygdala can also affect decision-making and escalate depression and anxiety. In the present case of Malvo, it is known that he was severely abused during childhood, which could have contributed to obtaining a traumatic brain injury, which would have resulted in a damaged amygdala (Ling et al., 2019). Dr. Jonathan H. Mack, a forensic neuropsychologist and expert witness who published The Making of Lee Boyd Malvo: The D.C. Sniper in 2012, states that it should be taken into account that because Malvo was still a child, his personality and ego were underdeveloped, it was simpler for Mohammad to mold him because of impressionability (Mack &

The relationship between one's development, especially during the formative years, strongly correlates to later criminal behavior. As explained by researcher Hee-Soon Juon, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, who wrote Childhood Behavior and Adult Criminality: Cluster Analysis in a Prospective Study of African Americans, states that components such as disrupted family dynamics and abnormal behavior have a heavy influence on criminality later in life. (Juon et al., 2006). As noted previously, Malvo was exposed to an unstable environment throughout his life, abuse, and no parental figures. Honing in on his mental state, Malvo was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder. DID and RAD are the direct result of neglect and abuse in extreme cases. The lack of support and love Malvo faced throughout his life caused early onset depression, while the dissociation was his only way of distancing himself from his harsh life. His attachment disorder is highly correlated with his clinging to Mohammand because, for Malvo, essentially, no one stayed around long enough. When he did become attached sooner or later, they exited his life. This factor made him highly vulnerable to Moahhamad, mainly because he acted as an older father figure, which was never granted to him. To him, Mohammad was the way out, a sense of structure after