D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo married behind bars: Who is his wife?

Lee Boyd Malvo's spouse is Sable Noel Knapp, a wealthy political activist from Iowa who married the convicted D.C. sniper in a low-key prison ceremony in March 2020. Malvo, one half of the two-man D.C. sniper team that killed 10 people in 2002, found his "soul mate" in a political activist who had herself spent time in jail following a Black Lives Matter protest. The union drew widespread attention — not least because Malvo is serving multiple life sentences with no realistic prospect of release.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Key takeaways

• Malvo, aged 35, married Sable Noel Knapp, aged 30, in a civil ceremony at Red Onion State Prison, Virginia, on 6 March 2020, with the marriage certificate filed in the Wise County Circuit Court.
• Knapp, part of a prominent Iowa family of property developers, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to political causes and describes herself as a self-described "trust fund baby" turned social activist.
• The convicted serial killer married a woman who began writing to him, then visiting him at Red Onion State Prison.
• Malvo is a Jamaican national, born 18 February 1985, and is currently incarcerated while eligible for parole in Virginia, with Maryland resentencing still pending.
• In August 2026, the Maryland Supreme Court declined to hear Malvo's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea to six counts of first-degree murder.

Profile summary

Full name	Lee Boyd Malvo
Also known as	John Lee Malvo; The Beltway Sniper
Date of birth	18 February 1985
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Nationality	Jamaican
Parents	Leslie Malvo (father); Una James (mother)
Spouse	Sable Noel Knapp (married March 2020)
Status	Incarcerated — Keen Mountain Correctional Center, Virginia
Convictions	Capital murder (Virginia, 3 counts); first-degree murder (Maryland, 6 counts)
Sentence	Multiple life sentences

Lee Boyd Malvo, also known as John Lee Malvo, is a Jamaican convicted mass murderer who, along with John Allen Muhammad, committed a series of murders dubbed the D.C. sniper attacks over a three-week period in October 2002.

Malvo was born on 18 February 1985, to Leslie Malvo, a mason, and Una James, a seamstress. The couple, who never married, lived in Kingston, Jamaica. Una left Leslie in 1990, when Lee was just five years old.

Malvo was 17 when he and Muhammad committed the sniper attacks. The two were arrested while sleeping in a vehicle at a rest stop near Frederick, Maryland, on 24 October 2002.

The D.C. sniper attacks

Malvo was 17 when he and John Allen Muhammad embarked on a killing spree in October 2002 that left 10 people dead and three wounded in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

On 18 December 2003, a Virginia jury convicted Malvo of capital murder charges in connection with the killing of Linda Franklin. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

On 10 October 2006, Malvo pleaded guilty to six murders he committed in Maryland. On 8 November 2006, he was sentenced in Maryland to six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Remorse and rehabilitation

In a rare 2012 interview, Malvo spoke candidly about his crimes. Speaking to the Washington Post on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, he expressed deep regret:

"I was a monster. If you look up the definition, that's what a monster is. I was a ghoul. I was a thief. I stole people's lives. I did someone else's bidding just because they said so. There is no rhyme or reason or sense."

Malvo, who authorities believed was brainwashed by the older Muhammad, expressed deep regret in a rare prison interview in 2012.

Did Lee Boyd Malvo get married?

Yes. D.C. sniper Lee Boyd Malvo is now a married man. Carmeta Albarus, an adviser and mentor to Malvo, confirmed that the 35-year-old inmate was married earlier in March at Red Onion State Prison in southwest Virginia.

Witnesses and guests were limited to six, and drinks had to be obtained from prison vending machines. One inmate, who witnessed the ceremony in Red Onion's contact visit area, said it occurred on a Friday during a two-hour visit by the bride.

Albarus, who attended the ceremony, told the Associated Press:

"Over the past 17 years, he has grown despite his conditions of confinement. He has grown into an adult, and has found love with a wonderful young lady."

Albarus also confirmed that the bride and groom "were allowed to hold hands" during the ceremony.

How did Malvo meet his wife?

The pair reportedly met about two years before the wedding, when the unnamed bride began writing to Malvo in prison and began visiting him regularly sometime after that.

Craig S. Cooley, one of the lawyers who represented Malvo at trial, described the woman as "very impressive," "educated," and a person with her "eyes wide open."

Who is Sable Noel Knapp?

Lee Boyd Malvo married Sable Noel Knapp, a wealthy political activist who had herself spent a short time in jail following a Black Lives Matter protest.

Knapp lists her profession as a writer's assistant, based in Portland, Maine. Her grandfather, Bill Knapp, runs one of Iowa's biggest real-estate companies and is responsible for building some of Des Moines' most iconic buildings. Her late father, Roger, was a professional tennis player in the 1980s.

Knapp, however, appears to have rejected much of her family's lavish lifestyle and instead involved herself in grassroots activism.

Sable Knapp's activism

Lawyer Julian Richter, who represented Knapp in 2016 when she was arrested at a Black Lives Matter protest in Maine, told The Daily Beast: "She's really committed to social activism, for sure, and I think she was always looking for ways to make changes."

Knapp, part of a prominent Iowa family of property developers and power brokers, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to political causes, spending her adult years advocating for social equality, wealth redistribution, and racial justice.

She attended Des Moines Area Community College at age 18 and also worked at a restaurant in Valley Junction.

Carmeta Albarus, Malvo's longtime mentor and social worker, described Knapp as a "wonderful woman" but declined to say more about Malvo's new wife or how they became engaged.

Lee Boyd Malvo's sentence and parole attempts

Malvo was transferred from Virginia's supermax prison, Red Onion State Prison, to Keen Mountain Correctional Center in September 2024.

For 22 years, Malvo had been housed at Red Onion, classified as Maximum Security. Keen Mountain is classified as Security Level 4, housing inmates serving life sentences with no disruptive behaviour for at least the past 24 months.

The Virginia Parole Board denied Malvo's parole request in August 2022, stating they consider Malvo a risk to the greater community and that his release at that time would diminish the seriousness of the crime.

Latest news

In August 2026, the Maryland Supreme Court declined to hear Lee Boyd Malvo's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea to six counts of first-degree murder in the D.C. sniper attacks.

The court, without comment, let stand lower court rulings that said Malvo is not entitled to have those charges vacated, given the impasse in which Virginia is refusing to hand him over until he serves four consecutive life sentences for murders there.

Former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, the Montgomery County State's Attorney who originally prosecuted Malvo in the Maryland cases, said: "Looks like Malvo has exhausted all of his Maryland sentencing appeal options." He added: "His only recourse for ever being released in Maryland would be a gubernatorial pardon."

Malvo is serving a total of 10 consecutive life sentences — four in Virginia, to be followed by six in Maryland.

Net worth

No verified net worth figure exists for Lee Boyd Malvo, who has been incarcerated since 2002 and has no known income or assets. Reliable financial sources such as Forbes and Celebrity Net Worth do not list a figure for him. This section is therefore omitted in line with editorial accuracy standards.

FAQs

1. Did Lee Boyd Malvo get married? Yes. Malvo married Sable Noel Knapp in a low-key civil ceremony at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia on 6 March 2020.
2. Who is Lee Boyd Malvo's wife? Sable Noel Knapp is described as a "trust fund baby" turned activist, part of a prominent Iowa family of property developers. She is the granddaughter of Bill and Irene Knapp.
3. How did Malvo and his wife meet? She started writing to Malvo about two years before the wedding and began visiting him soon after that.
4. Is Lee Boyd Malvo eligible for parole? Malvo is serving a life sentence in Virginia but is eligible for parole. A parole board rejected his most recent parole request in 2022.
5. Where is Lee Boyd Malvo currently held? Malvo is serving multiple life sentences at Keen Mountain Correctional Center, convicted for his role in the 2002 D.C. sniper attacks. He was originally held at Red Onion State Prison but was transferred to Keen Mountain in 2024.
6. What happened to John Allen Muhammad? Muhammad was executed by lethal injection on 10 November 2009.
7. What is the latest news about Lee Boyd Malvo's legal case? In August 2026, the Maryland Supreme Court declined to hear Malvo's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea to six counts of first-degree murder in the D.C. sniper attacks.
8. Has Lee Boyd Malvo expressed remorse? Yes. Malvo expressed his deepest remorse in a 2012 interview, calling himself a monster who stole innocent lives, and saying he had been brainwashed and manipulated by John Allen Muhammad.

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Source: TUKO.co.ke