The D.C. snipers' case shocked the country and sent our nation's capitol into a panicked frenzy in October 2002. With a shooting spree like never before, local and federal law enforcement officials worked around the clock to put an end to the senseless shootings, which resulted in 10 people dead and three critically injured, before bringing the notorious serial killers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammed to justice.
Now, two-time Emmy® Award-winner William Shatner rips open the D.C. snipers' case nearly 10 years later by gaining rare access to Malvo, who has granted Shatner an exclusive in-depth interview. During a prison phone interview with Malvo, which Shatner conducted as research for a D.C. snipers episode of his new series "Aftermath with William Shatner" on BIO Channel, Malvo opened up, and shocking new details came to light that have never before been made public. Malvo admits that he and Muhammed committed approximately 42 shootings around the country and that in the beginning, they worked with three co-conspirators. More incredible revelations are unveiled to viewers who will hear from Malvo's forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Neil Blumberg, who, with Malvo's permission, goes on record to speak about him for the first time. Viewers will also hear Malvo's taped police confessions from Virginia in 2002 and from Tucson in 2006, as well as Muhammed's cross examination of Malvo in their 2006 Maryland court case, all of which have never been broadcast. The one-hour "Confessions of the DC Sniper with William Shatner: An Aftermath Special" premieres tonight, Thursday, July 29th at 10PM ET/PT on A&E.
"Getting the opportunity to speak with Lee Malvo is a moment I'll never forget," says Shatner, "He was only 17 when he committed these horrific acts, a monster forged by the only father figure in his life, and it was simply astonishing that he's found the maturity and humility to admit so many new crimes in his effort to make amends."
In the incredibly candid phone interview, a remorseful yet composed Malvo tells Shatner that the shootings in D.C. were just the final chapter in a long, deadly cross-country shooting spree. He admits to approximately 42 other shootings and to having three co-conspirators in the beginning with whom he trained with under the guidance of Muhammed. He claims that the three extra snipers were going to use silenced rifles to create terror along the entire Eastern Seaboard but they eventually backed out of the plan, which, according to Malvo's forensic psychiatrist Dr. Blumberg, resulted in Muhammed commanding Malvo to kill two of them for not following through.
Throughout "Confessions of the D.C. Sniper" Malvo's story is corroborated by his forensic psychiatrist Dr. Blumberg, who spent more than 50 clinical hours with the sniper and is able to fill in some gaps to Malvo's story. As for the co-conspirators, Blumberg elaborates on what Malvo confesses, and according to him, there was a co-conspirator in New York who provided weapons, one in Florida who provided credit cards and false documents and a third in Arizona who provided explosives. Blumberg explains the death pact that Malvo and Muhammed had agreed on - meaning if Malvo backed out of their "mission" he would pay with his life. This was no different for the co-conspirators who backed out. Even though they helped in logistics, their unwillingness to become snipers resulted in two being murdered, according to Dr. Blumberg, by the hands of Malvo. The third co-conspirator's whereabouts are still unknown. In his call with Shatner, Malvo also claims to have purchased weapons from a white supremacist group in Arizona.
In addition to these shocking revelations, viewers will get an unprecedented amount of exclusive material stemming from the D.C. snipers' case. For the first time, the audio tape from the 2006 State of Maryland v. John Allen Muhammed trial in which Muhammed, who represented himself, cross examines Malvo, will be heard. The special will also show previously never before broadcast footage of Malvo's father in Jamaica pleading for his son, of Malvo's 2002 Virginia Police taped confession and his 2006 Tucson Police taped confession which reveals specific details pertaining to several murders that were not previously connected to the D.C. snipers.
Malvo's behind-the-scenes storytelling of what really happened between him and Muhammed during their killing spree, cut with interviews with survivors and family members of victims, law enforcement officials and others close to the case, help bring to focus how cold and calculated the snipers' motives were - and the level of devastation and heartache they brought to the Washington D.C. area.
The special is indicative of William Shatner's new series, "Aftermath with William Shatner" which premieres on BIO this Monday, August 2nd at 10PM ET/ 9PM CT/ 11PM PT. "Aftermath" takes an in-depth look at what happens when people are tragically or infamously transformed from unknown citizens into household names overnight. Stories like those of Jessica Lynch, Bernard Goetz and the D.C. snipers put previously unknown names on the minds of every American, and Shatner intends to find out how the lives of all those directly affected by these cases have changed forever. With exclusive access to the newsmakers at the heart of each story - heroes, villains, perpetrators, victims, family members and law enforcement officials - Shatner will dig deep in order to separate the fact from the fiction.
