The Making of Lee Boyd Malvo

The D.C. Sniper

Carmeta Albarus, Jonathan Mack

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780231512688
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Criminal Law
• Index: Law

In October of 2002, a series of sniper attacks paralyzed the Washington Beltway, turning normally placid gas stations, parking lots, restaurants, and school grounds into chaotic killing fields. After the spree, ten people were dead and several others wounded. The perpetrators were forty-one-year-old John Allen Muhammad and his seventeen-year-old protégé, 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 met with Malvo numerous times and repeatedly traveled back to his homeland of Jamaica, as well as to Antigua, to interview his parents, family members, teachers, and friends. What she uncovered was the story of a once promising, intelligent young man, whose repeated abuse and abandonment left him detached from his biological parents and desperate for guidance and support. In search of a father figure, Malvo instead found John Muhammad, a veteran of the first Gulf War who intentionally shaped his protégé through a ruthlessly efficient campaign of brainwashing, sniper training, and race hatred, turning the susceptible teen into an angry, raging, and dissociated killer with no empathy for his victims.

In this intimate and carefully documented account, Albarus details the nature of Malvo's tragic attachment to his perceived "hero father," his indoctrination, and his subsequent dissociation. She recounts her role in helping to extricate Malvo from the psychological clutches of Muhammad, which led to a dramatic courtroom confrontation with the man who manipulated and exploited him. Psychologist Jonathan H. Mack identifies and 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. By closely examining the impact of Lee Boyd Malvo's childhood on his later development, they reach out to parents, social workers, and the community for greater awareness and prevention.

1
A Father Lost

The Genesis of Reactive Attachment Disorder in Lee Boyd Malvo

MALVO’S EARLY LIFE IN JAMAICA

On February 18, 1985, in Kingston, Jamaica, Lee Boyd Malvo, the son of Una James and Leslie Malvo, was born. However, his story does not begin there. To understand Lee Malvo and the forces that shaped him and facilitated the persona of John Lee Muhammad, we have to understand the legacy his parents handed to him.

Leslie Malvo, born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, on December 26, 1947, traces his paternal lineage to Spain. According to Leslie, his father, Burby Malvo, was a World War I veteran who relocated to Jamaica after the war. Leslie stated that the correct spelling of the family name is actually Malveaux. “Is when him come to Jamaica dat dem spell it Malvo,” he said.

Leslie Malvo sounded proud of his mixed heritage, citing his complexion and “good hair,” which he inherited from his father, who he said was almost white. Burby and his Jamaican wife, Agatha, had seven children; Leslie was the last. (Both are deceased.) Leslie Malvo spoke of a loving home. “My father never beat me yet,” he said with a satisfied smile on his face. He recalled as well that his mother, though the disciplinarian in the home, punished with a loving hand.

Leslie did not have the benefit of a high school education. He went as far as the sixth grade. He admits that academic learning was never one of his strong points. He was good with his hands, and after leaving school he learned masonry. To this day he earns his livelihood as a mason. While proud of his lineage, he seems a man of humble bearing, not given to airs, and with very simple needs. One such need was to have children who would bear his name and validate his sense of paternal pride.

Lee Malvo was Leslie’s third child; he had fathered two other children by two different women. A fourth child was born to yet another woman after Una had Lee. Leslie’s behavior is not unusual in the Jamaican culture, where many men have children by different sexual partners and often play a minimal role in the lives of their offspring. In Jamaica, it is not uncommon for children to be raised by single mothers with little or no support from fathers. The father’s absence does not stop him from taking pride in the number of children he has.

Chevannes (2006), former dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies, notes that within the African-Caribbean context, fatherhood is not only a matter of functional role but also a question of identity—that having children is a part of the construction of manhood. Fatherhood is a status and also a role that men are expected to play—providing for their children and being the guardian of their moral development, particularly for the boys.

Unfortunately, as Chevannes (2006) also points out, the tenuous role of fathers within the construct of the family has led to a crisis of masculinity and fatherhood. He attributes much of the dysfunction to the cumulative effects of Jamaica’s troubled colonial past, the ill effects of migration, urbanization, and neoliberal economics—all of which have led to the loosening of family bonds and responsibility.

To Leslie Malvo’s credit, despite the historical and sociocultural context, he did try to be a good and loving father. Rohan Malvo, Leslie’s first son, said he had a close relationship with his father and that he could depend on him for support. Leslie’s pride in being a father was especially evident after Lee Malvo’s birth. “Of all my children, Lee look like me the most,” he remarked. He expressed delight in Lee being light-complexioned and very intelligent. Leslie believed too that he had found the “love of his life” in Lee’s mother, Una James.

Una’s lot in life was quite different from Leslie’s. She was born on September 8, 1964, in the rural district of Niagra, St. James. Her parents, Adolphus and Epsie James, had a tumultuous relationship marked by violence, which spilled over to affect the children. According to Marie Lawrence (née James), Malvo’s maternal aunt and older sister to Una, both of her parents showed signs of psychological dysfunction. Epsie James has a history of mental illness and was a patient at the Bellevue (Mental) Hospital in Kingston prior to her involvement with Adolphus. Adolphus James was an alcoholic who was brutal to his family, especially when he came home drunk.

According to Marie, after suffering years of abuse, Epsie James decided that she was tired of it. One morning shortly after her husband left for work, she packed her bags, took her two daughters, and left the home. They traveled to another parish, St. Elizabeth, where they settled in a small district called Nain. She farmed the land for ground provisions such as yams, pumpkins, and bananas; cleaned houses; and washed clothes in order to support herself and the girls. Life was hard. It felt even harder for Una, who felt her potential was being wasted.

Marie stated that Una was the more academically inclined of the two sisters and yearned for an education. Una recalled that she would walk miles to find her father and ask him to pay for her schooling. He refused. Marie said she also made a similar request of her father, but no money was forthcoming.

At age sixteen, after completing the ninth grade, Una opted to escape the doldrums of her life in St. Elizabeth by moving to the capital city of Kingston. There she found work as a live-in maid, but wages were low and life remained hard. She recalled that she had to wash, clean, cook, and do everything else to keep the household running. Her job was akin to that of an unpaid maid. She was able eventually to obtain accommodations with an older relative, but the living conditions were crowded and conflicts developed.

Despite the indignities Una suffered, she still aspired to improve her life. She worked during the day and attended classes at night, in English, mathematics, accounting, and shorthand. She said that despite her efforts, she did not get affirmation and support from her family. Rather, she was abused. It was in the midst of her despair that she met Leslie Malvo.

When Una became pregnant by Leslie, he saw this as a turning point in his life. He felt positive about settling down and providing for Una and his unborn child. Whether or not Una’s pregnancy was planned is debatable; she has made assertions on both sides of the issue. According to both parents, Malvo was a good-looking baby, happy and content, and according to his mother, cried very little. He was also a healthy baby who reached his developmental milestones at a much earlier age than the average child. According to Una, when she looked at her young son she recalled that education was what she had wanted most as a child, so she could grow up to be whatever she wanted. She was determined to do everything she could to ensure that her son would have a good education.

DAD THE NURTURER

Malvo’s earliest memories are of interactions with his father, Leslie. Malvo recalled that he and his father developed a quick bond. His father was the nurturing parent. According to Malvo, he did not make much of a fuss at home, thus allowing Malvo to be a child, to play and break things. Malvo said that when he was two years old Leslie bought him a tricycle, and they spent a lot of time with that tricycle. Though he was quite young, Malvo carried fond memories of that period of his life. He remembered that he always wanted to be a pilot, and his father encouraged him. He recalled that even when he tried to draw, his father made something out of his scribbles. When he did well at a task, his father was there to encourage him, and when all was not right, his father reassured him with a smile.

An incident that stood out for Malvo illustrates how important it was to have the balance his father provided. In pretending to be a pilot, young Malvo was playing with his miniature plane and moving around obstacles that he imagined were skyscrapers. During his play, he broke a cherished porcelain vase that belonged to his mother. He recalled sobbing as he looked at what he had done and worried about his mother’s reaction. Even though Leslie tried to reassure Malvo that Una would not be allowed to chastise him, Malvo was not convinced. His fears were confirmed when he heard his mother shriek, “Lee!!!” after she saw the broken vase that Leslie had carefully placed in a box. However, as she reached for Malvo, Leslie stepped forward. “Leave the boy alone. I broke it. You’ll buy another one next week!” For Malvo, his father was his hero.

Leslie’s devotion to Malvo and Una did not go unnoticed. Some young men who knew the family went as far as to suggest that Leslie was the “perfect father.” In the impoverished community of Waltham Gardens in Kingston, it was unusual to see a father being so attentive to his son. In a society where absent fathers are not only tolerated but also excused, it was refreshing to onlookers to see the bond they had. Lloyd Barrett, a neighbor and friend of Leslie’s, said that Leslie’s relationship with Malvo was an inspiration, and that he learned how to be a good father by watching Leslie. Lloyd and other men from the community remembered that Malvo was with his father so often that he was affectionately called “Pardie,” meaning that he was seen as his father’s little partner. Malvo’s father also called him “Little Man.”

While Leslie was the nurturer, Una was a hard taskmaster. She exercised the fire-and-brimstone kind of discipline with which she’d been raised. Unlike the relationship Malvo had with his father, the relationship with his mother was, to use Malvo’s term, an “inconsistent one.” He learned very early that she had certain expectations for him that seemed to extend beyond the normal expectations that a mother has for her child. She ruled him with an iron fist, and playing was seen as an intrusion on her efforts to make her son studious. So there was to be no playing; at least when Leslie was not around.

Leslie recalled that Una inflicted excessive punishment on Malvo when he was not there. He remembered that Una would beat him for any insignificant thing, with her fist or anything that was close at hand; she also pinched him often. Leslie recalled that she would beat Malvo as though she were beating a grown child. He would see the evidence of the beatings when he came home from work; although Malvo would have completed his homework, he would be sitting in a corner. “He could not move from that corner,” Leslie recalled. According to Leslie, to get his son away from that punitive environment, he would take him to the corner shop on his bicycle and buy him ice cream.

Malvo had early recollections of his mother imposing demands on him. He could not have been more than three or four years old when she started demanding that he learn to read, and he was expected to study his words until the lights went out. According to him, his mother tried to instill in him that his father had little or no ambition, and she was determined that he would not follow his father’s path. He wrote: “Even when my father and she were on good terms, she would scold me, ‘Don’t do this like your father.’ She was also fanatical about education, and overzealous about religion.”

Una James indicated that it was her aspiration to make something of her life even while she lived with Leslie. The impression conveyed was that Leslie, who was almost twice her age, did try to do for her what her father had failed to do. For instance, when she informed Leslie of her desire to do sewing and fashion designing, he bought her two Singer sewing machines and sent her to trade school.

To ensure that Malvo received academically what she had been denied as a child, Una placed him in preschool at age two. This school was called Nanny School, named for a Jamaican national hero, Nanny of the Maroons, and located in the community where they lived.

In contrast to Una’s all-business approach, Leslie liked to be jovial and laid back. He was a regular domino player on Oakland and Waltham Park Road. This domino spot was like many others found in poor communities of the island, where men gather to play and drink. One can hear the tap-tapping of the dominoes on tables or makeshift stands. Shouts of “six-love” boom over the chatter of men (and occasionally, brave women) as they wager on the games. In close proximity there is a bartender raking up sales of Red Stripe beer and Dragon or Guinness stout, and of course the popular Over Proof Jamaican White Rum.

According to Leslie, he was quite content with his simple life. He wanted to own his own home and provide for the family, ensuring that Una got to start her business and “Little Man” went to the best school that he could afford.

Although Leslie was content, his gambling habit was a sore point because Una felt it affected the family finances. Leslie disagreed, saying that although he gambled, he was able to provide adequately for his family. Reportedly, a dispute over his gambling practices erupted into a violent confrontation. Leslie hit Una in her face and she retaliated by striking him with a machete. Malvo saw this and cites it as one of his early memories.

The bickering about finances illustrated that the income Leslie earned was not sufficient to realize his dream of owning a home, especially when some of his earnings went toward gambling debts. So in 1988, when he was offered employment as a mason in Grand Cayman, he seized the opportunity. This meant that he had to leave his family and travel to Grand Cayman, where he was contracted to work and reside for up to six months at a time.

Leslie loved the Waltham Gardens community, but it was not the best place to raise a son who held so much promise. So prior to taking up his assignment in Grand Cayman, Leslie decided to move his family to a better neighborhood. Malvo was three years old when they moved to a house in the Washington Gardens area, a safer residential neighborhood. This home was much larger and comprised living and dining areas, with separate bedrooms for the parents and for Malvo. Unlike the residence on Oakland Road, it had indoor plumbing. There was also a lawn in front.

For Malvo, the nicer, safer surroundings were inviting, but his mother’s temperament did not change. He could not enjoy the lawn because of her prohibitive rule about going outside. He was sent to one of the best private schools in the area, which provided him with a solid educational foundation, but according to him, it was all study and no play. When his father was at home, he felt happy. He continued to rely on his father to offset his mother’s rigid approach to parenting. However, with Leslie’s long spells away in Grand Cayman, those precious times were fewer and far between. He recalled that his mother frequently reminded him that his father was not there to “spoil him.”

When Leslie left for the contract work in Grand Cayman, he assured Una and Malvo that his decision was for the benefit of all of them. According to him, he worked and sent money by Western Union at least twice per month. He stated that after everyday expenses were taken out, he sent the balance to be saved for the purchase of a home.

Leslie returned to Jamaica on major holidays: at Christmas, at Easter, and in August for the Jamaican independence holiday. He usually brought goods for the home, including TVs, radios, appliances, and toys and clothes for Malvo and Una. Leslie said that he had J$18,000 (Jamaican currency) in an account at Victoria Mutual Building Society in Kingston at one point. This was the equivalent of US$3,600. He decided that he was ready to start saving toward buying a house. From the J$18,000, he took J$10,000 and opened a certificate of deposit account. He said that it was a joint account with Una. The bank, he recalled, had advised him that if he allowed the money to remain for a year, he could get a mortgage of up to J$100,000. He recalled ruefully that he could have bought a house for J$80,000 to J$100,000 at the time. Life was good, and he felt that he, Una, and Malvo would remain together as a family.

MALVO IS TAKEN AWAY FROM HIS FATHER

According to Una, she became frustrated with Leslie’s reluctance to have her join him in the Cayman Islands. She felt that this signaled he was having an affair—an accusation that Leslie denies. According to him, he could not have his family join him until he had his own place. He insisted that he had every intention of “doing the right thing” by Una. He recalled that he had even purchased an engagement ring for her, and wanted to surprise her upon his return to Jamaica. Malvo remembered that his primary focus while his father was away was the anticipation of his father’s return home.

Leslie had a visit scheduled for August 1990, to celebrate independence day. However, by then Una was ready to move on with her life, without Leslie. She decided that finding her sister, Marie Lawrence, from whom she had been estranged, would be the first step to ending the relationship. She knew that Marie lived somewhere in the parish of St. Ann, close to Brown’s Town, but did not know the exact location. Eventually, she learned the details and set about finding her. Though years of separation and bitterness had kept the sisters apart, they reportedly hugged when they saw each other and expressed joy at their reunion. Una informed Marie she needed a new start and wanted to leave Kingston. Endeavor, where Marie lived, was located in the hills of St. Ann and seemed a perfect hideaway for Una. It seemed unlikely that Leslie would be able to find her and Malvo there.

According to Leslie, he was scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Monday, August 6, 1990. On Friday the 3rd, he sent Una US$200 via Western Union. She collected the money and then, according to him, emptied the joint account prior to his arrival. She packed up everything in the house and moved to Endeavor. Malvo was aware of what was happening and was crushed, but he felt confident his father would find him and take him away from his mother. Una disputes that the money was all Leslie’s and stated that she had contributed a significant portion of it as well. She insists that she did not “steal” Leslie’s money.

Upon his return home, Leslie was shocked when he did not see the woman he expected to marry and his beloved son. The landlady was surprised to see him. “Brown Man,” he recalled her saying, “What you doing here? Una move and gone with everything.” Leslie was devastated. He gave his landlady a portion of the rent and went to the bank to see whether the money in the joint account was gone as well. To his dismay, the account was empty. His dreams of a life with Una and Malvo were dashed.

Leslie returned to the old neighborhood at Oakland Road, where he informed his buddies that Una had left and taken Malvo and everything else with her. “We could not believe it. He was too good to that woman and little Pardie,” his friend Lloyd Barrett recalled. “He was like a lost man. No one on the corner could believe that Una had left him, and the fact that she had taken Malvo was the worst blow of all. That child was his life.”

According to Leslie, he began his search for the truck that had moved his family. He walked for miles, asking every truck driver in the surrounding area if they remembered moving a family from Right Hand Crescent in Washington Gardens. He finally found the driver and made his way to Endeavor, but when he arrived Una was not there.

According to Leslie, he caught up with Una the following day and confronted her. He begged her to give the relationship a chance, but she refused. She told him she left him because she heard he was having an affair. He tried explaining that he was not cheating on her, but her mind was made up. He recalled the utter devastation he felt as she rejected his pleas. By then Una had started a small retail shop in Endeavor. Malvo, in the meantime, had to adjust to a new community.

Malvo recalled that his mother began a proce...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: A Nation in Fear—the Crime
• 1. A Father Lost: The Genesis of Reactive Attachment Disorder in Lee Boyd Malvo
• 2. A False Father Found: Malvo Meets John Muhammad
• 3. A False Father Rejected: Separating Malvo from Muhammad
• 4. A Forensic Mental Health Analysis of Lee Boyd Malvo by Jonathan H. Mack, Psy.D.
• Epilogue
• References
• Index