More than four years after a Tucson man was shot to death at a Southeast Side golf course, police have requested an interview with a possible suspect — one of the convicted Washington, D.C., snipers.
For several years, the Tucson Police Department has suspected that the infamous snipers — John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo — were linked to the death of Jerry Taylor, who was killed with a high-powered rifle while golfing in March 2002 at the Fred Enke Golf Course, East Irvington Road and South Camino Seco.
On Thursday, Sgt. Kevin Hall of the Tucson police homicide unit confirmed that a request had been submitted to interview Malvo, who is serving a life term after agreeing to plead guilty to six murders in exchange for testifying against Muhammad.
However, details are still being worked out as to when that would occur if the request is granted, he said.
People are also reading…
"Now that both of their cases have been adjudicated, we are going to try and follow up on this case from that angle," said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
Taylor's daughter, Cheryll Witz, is also planning to write a letter to Malvo, hoping it will elicit a confession, she said.
"I don't know what I am going to write, but I am planning on writing a letter," Witz, 44, said. "All we can hope for right now is a confession, and then I'll finally have some closure."
Investigators placed Malvo and Muhammad in Tucson about the time of Taylor's slaying when they were visiting Muhammad's sister, according to Arizona Daily Star archives.
While in custody in Maryland, Malvo reportedly told two jail guards that he "shot a senator on a golf course" and also bragged to a friend in Seattle of robbing and killing two golfers in Arizona.
Muhammad on Thursday was sentenced to six consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for six of the slayings, which were part of a string of 13 sniper shootings that terrorized the Washington region for three weeks.
He is also awaiting execution for a Virginia sniper murder.
Malvo gave jurors the first inside look at the sniper team he formed with Muhammad. Malvo implicated Muhammad in all the Washington-area shootings and described larger plans to shoot six people a day for a month, then target children with explosives.
