RICHMOND, Va. — Convicted D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo told actor William Shatner on a cable TV special Thursday evening that he and his partner tried to recruit other shooters for their 2002 spree and that his accomplice killed one man for backing out.

In a telephone call from a southwest Virginia prison, Malvo told Shatner two men planned to join in the attacks to make them more deadly but reneged. Malvo said his fellow shooter, John Allen Muhammad, killed one of the men in retaliation. Malvo did not identify them in the interview for “Confessions of the D.C. Sniper with William Shatner: An Aftermath Special,” which premiered at 10 p.m. Thursday on A&E.

Malvo’s revelations came in response to questions about claims by a psychiatrist that the duo had co-conspirators. The psychiatrist, Neil Blumberg, who worked with Malvo before his trial, also said Malvo had confessed to more shootings in addition to the spree that terrorized the Washington region in 2002, when 13 people were hit and 10 of them died.

An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday on the claims. Malvo’s trial attorney, Timothy Sullivan, did not immediately return a call.

In the TV interview, Malvo initially denies Blumberg’s claims that he and Muhammad had co-conspirators. Once pressured, he says someone in Arizona helped them get weapons and explosives, and a man in New York was supposed to help them get out of the country “when it’s all said and done.”

He said both backed out of plans to help with the shootings.

“There was supposed to be three to four snipers with silenced weapons,” said Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings. “In this way we could do a lot more damage along the entire Eastern Seaboard.”

Blumberg said Malvo told him Muhammad made him shoot two of the co-conspirators. Malvo told Shatner only one of the men was killed, and that Muhammad did it.

Blumberg also said Malvo told him a third co-conspirator was supposed to have joined them in Washington but did not. Malvo does not mention that person in the interview with Shatner.

Previously, Malvo and Muhammad had been linked to as many as 27 shootings resulting in 17 deaths in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

Blumberg told the show Malvo had confessed to him to at least 42 shootings. When Shatner asked about the number of shootings, Malvo rattled off states where he claims he and Muhammad shot people but didn’t give an exact number.

Malvo’s statements have been inconsistent in the past, and authorities have cast doubt on some of his reported confessions since he was sentenced to life in prison. Muhammad was executed in Virginia last year.

 

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