The defendant in the notorious D.C. sniper case compounds the crimes by boasting.

Anyone inclined to be sympathetic, understanding and compassionate to Lee Boyd Malvo would do well to consider the suspect’s boastful behavior concerning the sniper shootings last October.

Prosecutors in Fairfax County, Va., say that Malvo has admitted he shot and killed a woman who happened to be an FBI analyst outside a Home Depot store last fall. The random killing had nothing to do with the woman’s professional status. And the report is that “he also admitted to killing a number of other victims himself with the aid of his co-defendant who acted as his spotter and helper.”

Legal people say Malvo and co-defendant John Allen Muhammad were equal partners on the “sniper team” that left 10 people dead and three wounded in the Washington, D.C., area.

“One would be the spotter, while the other would do the shooting,” wrote Raymond Morrogh, a prosecuting attorney. Papers do not actually name Muhammad, but he is the only other person charged in the vicious rampage against innocents.

Morrogh adds that Malvo was “rather boastful” in admitting his role in the killings and that he often referred to Muhammad as his father, which the latter is not.

Many believe that wanton killing for “fun or profit” calls for the death penalty. Prosecutors in this case contend that an aberrant “fun” angle dominated this series of events, and they are seeking capital punishment.

This, of course, is one of those high-profile cases that may drag on for a long time. Defense attorneys and their supporters will seek one loophole and excuse after another. But considering the heinous nature of the sniper crimes, it is hoped it can be brought to a quick conclusion with no more attention paid to glorifying the defendants as pathetic victims of society.

Consider that the people who were killed were victims of the disgusting “society” that the killers created with their sociopathic outlooks. The victims had no choice; the gunmen did.