Malvo could have been brainwashed, expert testifies

Last Updated 8:52 a.m. PST Friday, December 5, 2003CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) - An expert on cults testified Friday that sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo could have been brainwashed by convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, partly because of Malvo’s childhood in which his mother often dropped out of his life and moved him to various homes.

“Instability is a factor in indoctrination,” said Paul Martin, a psychologist and former cult member himself. “People seek reliability from that instability, that sense of insecurity in their life.”

Martin testified at Malvo’s capital murder trial. Malvo’s lawyers are presenting an insanity defense, claiming Muhammad brainwashed Malvo to the point that Malvo could not tell right from wrong.

Prosecutors strongly objected to Martin’s testimony, saying he was not qualified to offer opinions on the relationship between Malvo and Muhammad.

When social worker Carmeta Albarus first interviewed Malvo in the Fairfax jail, she was struck by the fact the 18-year-old who had spent almost all his life in Jamaica acted like an oppressed American.

Albarus, herself a Jamaican native, testified Thursday at Malvo’s trial that she was taken aback that Malvo’s Jamaican accent - which is difficult to obscure - had totally disappeared. Malvo talked about racial injustice excessively, even though he attended one of the best high schools in Jamaica and lived in a nation where more than 90 percent of the country is black.

What’s more, he insisted that he be called John Lee Muhammad and he was extremely defensive of the man he considered to be his father, John Allen Muhammad.

“Something was amiss in this Jamaican boy,” she said.

For the defense, Albarus’ testimony demonstrated the level of brainwashing Malvo had undergone at the hand of Muhammad, who has already been convicted of capital murder. Her first interview with Malvo was in March, five months after he and Muhammad were arrested.

Albarus also talked about Malvo’s interest in the film “The Matrix,” in which the hero shoots his way out of a computer-imposed world of virtual reality.

Albarus was not permitted to talk about Malvo’s impressions of the film. But she said she watched the movie and saw Malvo in the role of the hero, Neo, who brings about a massive societal change. Muhammad filled the role of Morpheus, who served as Neo’s mentor, Albarus said.

“Neo was going to contribute significantly to change of the system,” Albarus said.

Malvo’s interest in the novel and TV miniseries “Roots” may have stemmed from a similar interest in fostering societal change, Albarus said.

Malvo also had complete confidence in Muhammad’s plan to create a new, righteous society by taking 70 boys and 70 girls of all races to a compound in Canada who would then go out and change the world.

“I pointed out how ludicrous the thought was … but he felt very confident this could be done because we have to start with the children,” she said.

The $10 million demanded by the snipers in notes left at the crime scenes would have provided the funds to buy the land and establish the compound, Malvo told Albarus.

The defense contends that Malvo was legally insane because Muhammad had indoctrinated Malvo to the extent that he could no longer tell right from wrong.

Prosecutors, though, say none of the evidence in the case demonstrates that Malvo could not tell right from wrong. They challenged Thursday whether the jury should even be allowed to consider Malvo’s mental health as a defense for last year’s sniper spree, which left 10 people dead in the Washington, D.C., area.

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said he is contending with “an insanity defense that’s like a puff of smoke.”

In response to Horan’s concerns, Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush elicited assurances from the defense that at least one of their mental-health experts will testify that Malvo was so brainwashed that he could not tell right from wrong.

Albarus, who conducted an investigation of Malvo’s social history in the Caribbean, made no assertions about Malvo’s sanity, nor was that requested of her. But she did say that in about 70 hours of meetings with Malvo, the 18-year-old began exhibiting traits that seemed to show he was peeling away from Muhammad’s influence.

In a phone conversation with his natural father, Malvo reverted to his old Jamaican accent. He became teary-eyed when an old teacher visited, and he broke down and wept after receiving a videotaped message from his aunt, Albarus said.

Associated Press writer Sonja Barisic contributed to this report.

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