DC sniper: Survivor made me feel like scum

WASHINGTON -- Convicted D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said in a newspaper interview published yesterday that the devastated reaction of a victim's husband made him feel like "the worst piece of scum."

Malvo expressed remorse to The Washington Post and urged the families of victims to try to forget about him and his partner, John Allen Muhammad, so they can move on.

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the start of the deadly three-week spree in the Washington area carried out by Malvo and John Allen Muhammad. They have been linked to 27 shootings across the country, including 10 deaths in the D.C. area.

Malvo, 27, told the Post in a rare interview that the look on the face of Linda Franklin's husband after she was shot stands out. Franklin, 47, an FBI analyst, was killed as she and her husband loaded supplies Oct. 14, 2002, in Falls Church, Va.

"They are penetrating," Malvo said of Ted Franklin's eyes. "It is the worst sort of pain I have ever seen in my life. . . . Words do not possess the depth in which to fully convey that emotion and what I felt when I saw it."

Malvo is serving a life sentence with no parole at a prison in southwest Virginia for killing Franklin. Muhammad was executed in Virginia in 2009.

Malvo repeated previous assertions that he was manipulated by the older Muhammad during the string of attacks. Malvo was 17 then, but he acknowledges: "I was a monster."

When asked by the Post what he would say to victims' families, Malvo said there's no way to properly convey an apology. He added: "Don't allow myself or Muhammad to continue to make you a victim for the rest of your life."

Linda Franklin's father, Charles Moore, was incredulous about the relatives being able to forget. "There's no way," he told the AP. "I'm 83 years old and I'll carry it to my grave."