Virginia Beach, Va. ? Prosecutors on Friday sought to implicate sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad as the triggerman in a shooting at an Alabama liquor store that left one woman dead and another wounded.

The prosecution relied on the testimony of medical examiner Emily Ward to bolster their theory that Muhammad, rather than fellow suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, fired the shots outside the liquor store.

Muhammad is on trial in the slaying of a man at a Virginia gasoline station during last year’s sniper spree, but one of the capital murder charges accuses him of multiple killings over three years. That means prosecutors must prove at least one more murder committed by Muhammad to obtain a conviction on that count.

Ward testified that Claudine Parker, 52, died after being shot in the back with what was probably a high-powered rifle. Ward said the bullet broke through Parker’s spinal cord and created a “snowstorm effect” as bullet fragments broke off in her body. Ward said the same thing happened with the bullet that wounded Kellie Adams, who survived the shooting.

Witnesses in the trial earlier said they saw Malvo carrying a handgun — and not a rifle — as he robbed the women. On Friday, prosecutors showed the handgun recovered from the scene, a tiny weapon smaller than the palm of a hand.

The testimony also fits with pretrial testimony from a Baltimore jail guard, who said Malvo told him that Muhammad fired the shots in the Alabama shootings.

Muhammad and Malvo have been accused of shooting 19 people, killing 13 and wounding six in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Muhammad is on trial for killing Dean Harold Meyers last year; they have been charged with capital murder in the slaying of Parker, but have yet to stand trial.

Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad, left, and his defense attorneys Peter Greenspun, seated center, and Jonathan Shapiro, seated right, listen to prosecutor Richard Conway during the Muhammad trial Friday at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court in Virginia Beach, Va.

A Montgomery, Ala., patrol supervisor testified Friday about his pursuit of Malvo after the liquor-store shooting.

James Graboys said Malvo quickly cleared an 8-foot fence while he pursued on foot. After Malvo put some distance between himself and the patrolman, he ran in front of a trash bin and Graboys lost sight of him.

“He looked almost like a high school athlete. He was moving quickly, confidently,” Graboys said.

Then he described his reaction when he saw photos of Malvo on television after his arrest in the sniper shootings: “I remember feeling sick in the pit of my stomach.”