By DON SINGLETON DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sniper suspect Lee Malvo has reportedly opened a strange line of communication with detectives trying to understand his relationship with co-defendant John Muhammad.

While Malvo, 17, has steadfastly refused to speak to investigators probing the shootings, he has been responding nonverbally, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Separately, a source in the Caribbean told investigators there that Muhammad suggested kidnapping the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda for ransom. There was no indication he acted on the alleged threat, made nearly two years ago, authorities said.

In interrogations, Malvo has conveyed some of his thoughts using gestures, charades and even traced-out sentences - including the admonition that he didn't want a detective to "get into his head," the magazine says.

"At times during the police interview, Malvo was childlike, giggling and playful. He cried, though, when asked about one crime scene: the last one, the shooting of bus driver Conrad Johnson," the magazine says.

Although Muhammad, 45, has refused to answer questions about his relationship with his teenage partner, who he sometimes referred to as his son, Malvo indicated his closeness to Muhammad by "pounding his chest near his heart."

"He also gestured that the two were 'tight like blood brothers' by laying one hand on the table and 'slicing' his index and middle fingers, then making a gesture that suggested blood trickling out," the article says.

"What we may be dealing with is a combination of a disturbed young guy seeking a bond, which he desperately needed, and being so influenced by this relationship that he can only communicate if he is given permission by Muhammad," Sanford Cohen, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Miami, told U.S. News.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2002

Answers

Hmmm, did any of his classmates mention anything about the kid's speech abilities? I don't recall any. Seems to me he was helping some with their homework. Some[one] said he was smart.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2002

Humph. Let an Israeli agent have a crack at 'em.

I still don't believe either of these slime did all of the shootings. I think they got hung out to dry by a cell when Williams left the notes and started talking too much.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2002