Laptop Key Evidence in Sniper killer Case.

U.S. National - AP

Laptop Reportedly Key in Sniper Case
By STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer

CLINTON, Md. (AP) - Paul LaRuffa was just closing his restaurant around 10:30 p.m. Sept. 5 when gunshots exploded. He was shot six times, and robbed of $3,000 in receipts and a Sony laptop computer.

Nearly two months later, that laptop computer resurfaced in a car with John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, the former soldier and teenager arrested in connection with a string of deadly sniper shootings in the Washington area.

"We're confident we have a match between the shooting on Sept. 5 and the snipers," Capt. Andy Ellis of the Prince George's County police department announced Friday.
Ellis wouldn't comment on evidence, but a law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the laptop stolen from LaRuffa Sept. 5 was found in Muhammad and Malvo's car. The laptop appears to contain a journal of the suspects' travels, placing them at many of the shooting scenes, according to published reports.

Authorities have yet to determine who pulled the trigger in each of the attacks, but a Virginia prosecutor said Friday that only 17-year-old Malvo's fingerprints were found on the Bushmaster rifle found in the car and linked by ballistics evidence to the sniper attacks.In adjacent Prince William County, Muhammad was formally charged with killing Dean Meyers as he pumped gas at a Manassas gas station Oct. 9.