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SATURDAY March 27 , 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 10, 2004 The Powderhorn Case closed, but emotions remain Peter Hahnloser In October 2002, fresh off the first anniversary of 9/11, the D.C. area and much of northern Virginia were on edge because of a new threat: the sniper shootings. Sometimes a few days would pass between shootings, sometimes not. And that inconsistency was as much a part of what terrorized the area as the slayings themselves. As new tidbits sprinkled in, people hoped - indeed, prayed - that the amalgamation of evidence would bring a swift end to the killings. When authorities said to look out for a white truck or a white van, police departments were flooded with reports of such vehicles. In Harrisonburg, Va., a good 75 miles from the eventual snipers' range, people were afraid to buy gasoline. Where the shootings had actually taken place, residents thought twice about leaving their houses. Why risk it? The end John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death on Tuesday for killing Dean Harold Meyers in Manassas, Va. Though his conviction in November pertained to only one of the murders, the net effect was to show that he was a part of the sniper attacks. A former co-worker in Harrisonburg who now works in Culpeper, Va. - much closer to Washington - said Tuesday that the reaction in his newsroom was one of vindication. That's hardly a surprise, given rural Virginia's heavy conservative slant and the fact that almost everyone around there knew people who had changed their routines that October. But the sheer emotional intensity was largely lost on people from the West Coast, thousands of miles from the affected area? It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon in Lithia Park. The sun shone brightly for the third straight day, and residents took advantage of the weather, playing with their children, reading a book along the banks of Ashland Creek or just walking hand in hand. People were enjoying the simple pleasures in life that were denied to those in the D.C. area for weeks. Jim and Camille Pagnini came into town from Jacksonville to spend some time reading along the creek. Jim recalled the sniper shootings, and what the reaction was in Oregon at the time. "We were all apprised of what was going on back there," he said. Both agreed that it was a topic on people's minds. The shootings "had everyone up in arms," Jim said. But, the distance was clear, though. The recollections, the reactions certainly showed concern, but the fear felt around Washington was, not surprisingly, absent. The Pagninis focused on the current event, the sentence. "I don't approve of capital punishment," Camille said. Her husband agreed. "I think he should be put in jail for the rest of his life, with no chance of parole," Jim said. "Hard labor for the rest of his life - and be sure to underline 'no chance of parole.' "We feel justice has got to be served." Justice The court of public opinion in Harrisonburg, and doubtless elsewhere in Virginia, had convicted Muhammad and his protege-cum-accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, at about the time the pair were caught at a rest stop in a car with a hole bored out of the trunk for a rifle to poke through. Life returned to normal, as it has a propensity for doing, after the arrests came and the shootings stopped. Yet it didn't come to an abrupt end in every way. It's hard to say that there was a particular day on which everyone felt safe at the gas station again, that there was a group-think moment in which life felt normal again. People around D.C. are probably less forgiving with Muhammad at this point than people here. Some who are normally against the death penalty feel that he's getting what he deserved. And they justify it the same way. "Justice has got to be served." Peter Hahnloser is the news editor at the Ashland Daily Tidings. He can be reached at [email protected] or 482-6025 x3021. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: The new search is here! Click here for more information. .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams