The Making of Lee Boyd Malvo: The D.C. Sniper

In October of 2002, a series of sniper attacks paralyzed the Washington Beltway. The perpetrators were forty-one-year-old John Allen Muhammad and his seventeen-year-old protege, Lee Boyd Malvo. Called in by the judge to serve on Malvo's defense team, social worker Carmeta Albarus was instructed by the court to uncover any information that might help mitigate the death sentence the teen faced. Albarus details the nature of Malvo's tragic attachment to his perceived "hero father," his indoctrination, and his subsequent dissociation. Psychologist Dr. Jonathan H. Mack analyzes the underlying clinical psychological and behavioral processes that led to Malvo's dissociation and turn toward serial violence. With this tragic tale, the authors emphasize the importance of parental attachment and the need for positive and loving relationships during the critical years of early childhood development.