No humor here:

John Allen Mohammed was executed for sniper attacks that killed 10 around D.C. during 3-week spree.

the spree ... terrorized Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., over a three-week period.

Muhammad was sentenced to die for killing Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station in northern Virginia. He and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, also were suspected of fatal shootings in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and Washington state.

Mohammed and Malvo were two of our modern era's more heinous villains, and true terrorists. Mark their cause well.

There is no joy in the execution of fellow humans. But just because there is no joy in it doesn't render execution useless or evil or unnecessary. Society is a big complicated place, and sometimes mercy to the evil is injustice to the victims. At least Mohammed has been put to rest; if mental disorders drove him to kill, well, then he is in a better place.

That Lee Boyd Malvo, 17 at the time he was helping murder people across 3 states, will live in prison for life may be something of a consolation.

I suppose it is a mark of the modern, educational journalist that only a couple of the victims are mentioned in the linked article. So here they all are, linked only by the unluckiest of circumstances, the choices of two madmen. Notice the cross-section of life lived — your life; my life:

In memoriam:

On Oct. 3, 2002, the sniper’s victims include:

James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old landscaper, was murdered while mowing the grass at the Fitzgerald Auto Mall.

Premkumar Walekar, a 54-year-old part-time taxi driver, was killed while pumping gas at a gas station.

Sarah Ramos, 34, worked as a babysitter and housekeeper. She was shot while reading a book at a bus stop.

Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, was killed while vacuuming her vehicle at a gas station.

On Oct. 7, 2002, Iran Brown, 13, was shot as he arrived at his Maryland middle school. He survived the attack and testified against Muhammad at his trial.

On Oct. 23, 2002, Conrad Johnson, a 35-year-old bus driver, was mortally wounded while standing on the steps of his bus in Aspen, Maryland.

On the evening of Oct. 7, 2002, Pascar Charlot, a 72-year-old retired carpenter, was murdered while walking down Georgia Avenue.

On Oct. 9, 2002, 53-year-old Dean Harold Meyers was shot dead while pumping gas.

On Oct. 11, 2002, Kenneth Bridge, 53, was killed pumping gas at an Exxon station.

On Oct. 14, 2002, FBI intelligence analyst, Linda Franklin, 47, was shot dead in the parking lot of a Home Depot store.

On Oct. 19, Jeffrey Hopper was shot near the Ponderosa steakhouse in Ashland, Va.

These just during the final spree, the two hiding in the trunk of a car, a portable sniper's nest.