The initial motivations of the snipers for carrying out the attacks was largely unclear. One theory was that Muhammad had planned to kill his ex-wife and disguise the murder amongst other murders to throw off the investigation as he had made earlier threats against her though this theory was never firmly established. In interviews, Muhammad spoke of a bigger plan to kill more people on a larger scale, but did not elaborate on the plan or its purpose.
After extensive counseling, Malvo agreed to testify against Muhammad during his 2006 trial in Montgomery County, Maryland. Malvo admitted that he had been completely under Muhammad’s control during the attacks, going so far as to claim that he was the shooter for every shooting after his arrest. Malvo testified that he made this claim in order to protect Muhammad from the death penalty, because it was more difficult to achieve the death penalty for a minor. Malvo also expressed his regret for his role in the shootings. In his two days of testimony, Malvo outlined detailed aspects of all the shootings, including the ones he was responsible for, and outlined Muhammad’s multiphase plan that had been the motivation for the attacks. The plan, engineered by Muhammad, consisted of three phases in the DC and Baltimore metro areas.
Phase 1
Phase one consisted of meticulously planning, mapping, and practicing their locations around the DC area. This way, after each shooting, they would be able to quickly leave the area on a predetermined path and move on to the next location. Muhammad’s goal in Phase One was to kill six white people a day for 30 days. Malvo went on to describe how Phase One did not go as planned due to heavy traffic and the lack of a clear shot and/or getaway at different locations.
Phase 2
Phase Two was meant to be moved up to Baltimore. Malvo described how this phase was close to being implemented but was never carried out. Phase Two was intended to begin by killing a pregnant woman by shooting her in the stomach. The next step would have been to shoot and kill a Baltimore police officer. At the officer’s funeral, they would have created and planted several improvised explosive devices. These explosives were intended to kill a large number of officers.
Phase 3
Phase Three was to take place very shortly after—if not during—Phase Two. The third phase was to extort several million dollars from the U.S. government by kidnapping children and holding them for ransom. This money would be used to finance a larger plan: to travel north into Canada and recruit other effectively orphaned boys and teach them to use weapons and stealth before sending them out to commit shootings across the country.