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Convicted on all counts

Rockville (U.S.): John Allen Muhammad was convicted of six murders in the October 2002 sniper spree that terrorised the national capital region, and likely would have been convicted even without the compelling testimony of former protege Lee Boyd Malvo, a juror said. However, while Malvo's two days on the witness stand in Muhammad's month-long trial may not have been vital to obtaining a conviction, it did provide one of the trial's most intriguing moments. ``It was certainly compelling testimony from a troubled young man,'' said juror Scott Stearns. ``As much as Malvo was responsible for those killings, I think it took courage for him to take the stand and confront his mentor.'' The guilty verdict the Maryland jury handed up on Tuesday adds to the death sentence Muhammad received in Virginia for a sniper shooting in Manassas, Virginia. Muhammad will be sentenced on Thursday to life in prison. Malvo, now 21 but 17 at the time of the sniper killings, was prosecutors' star witness. — AP

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