[JURIST] DC sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad [Wikipedia profile] agreed Monday to allow three attorneys to stand by and provide advice upon request when he begins representing himself at his trial [JURIST report], set to begin May 1. Maryland Judge James L. Ryan granted the defendant's request [JURIST report] to represent himself last month despite protestation from Muhammad's court-appointed attorneys that he was not competent to stand trial [AP report].

Muhammad has been sentenced to death for one of the ten DC-area killings [PBS report] in Manassas, Virginia and now faces six counts of first degree murder in Maryland. Lee Boyd Malvo [Wikipedia profile], Muhammad's accomplice, has already been sentenced to life [JURIST report] for one of the shootings in Virginia. AP has more.