The Dogs Are Another Source Of Malaika’s Ire

Deborah heard the commotion, and as she arrived on the scene, Griffin yelled at her, cursing her and threatening to harm her. When Deborah threatened to call the police, Griffin backed down and returned to her home. Deborah did the same.

Jason continued to unload his truck. Several minutes later, Deborah heard a loud bang. She rushed outside and encountered a nightmarish sight.

Deborah Argues With Griffin

Lying slumped over in his car, Jason was unconscious and bleeding profusely. Neighbors had also heard the noise and came to the scene. Beverly rushed Jason to a hospital three blocks away, but he died shortly after arrival.

Jason had been shot in the back of the head with a nine millimeter pistol at point blank range. Records showed Malaika Griffin owned such a weapon.

Jason Is Shot To Death

After shooting Jason, Griffin, who did not own a car, ran to her friend Monique Thomas’ house several blocks away. She burst into the home with her gun drawn, demanding the keys to her friend’s car. When Monique complied, Griffin fled without harming her.

In searching Griffin’s home, police discovered they could be dealing with a potential domestic terrorist. The house was filled with literature, including science books, some of which related to Griffin’s work. The majority, however, were books on terrorism and bomb making, including The Anarchist Cookbook and The Poor Man’s James Bond. Also found were anarchist Internet writings as well as ammunition and hand grenades.

Griffin’s Terrorist Materials . . .

The most disturbing item uncovered was Griffin’s diary in which she expressed a deep hatred for white people, particularly males. One entry read, “I am so sick of looking at white people!! I am so goddamn tired of them!! I wish I could kill those no good faggot [sic], pedophilic [sic], rapists, thieves & make it painful, (very).”

Another passage read: “Fuck what our enemies say. Their opinion shouldno longer guide us in our direct n out of this white supremacist patriachalhell. I hate them & deep down you do too. 98% of the Blk female populat nthink whites aren’t worth shit and don’t want to be around them less alonethink about them. We hate whites more than they hate us. So it is time we usedour fear, anger, disgust to destroy them. Blk wm unite. [sic]”

. . . And Disturbing Writings

Malaika Griffin appeared to have murdered Jason Horsley because he was a white male.

Two days later, on May 20, the vehicle she had carjacked from Monique was found nearly eight-hundred miles away in Iowa City, Iowa. After Griffin’s picture was shown in area newspapers, a man contacted police saying he had driven her to a bus station after the car had broken down.

. . . And Disturbing Writings

Malaika Griffin appeared to have murdered Jason Horsley because he was a white male.

Two days later, on May 20, the vehicle she had carjacked from Monique was found nearly eight-hundred miles away in Iowa City, Iowa. After Griffin’s picture was shown in area newspapers, a man contacted police saying he had driven her to a bus station after the car had broken down.

Car Found

The man saw Griffin board a bus to Chicago. Police learned she had placed a phone call from there to her mother, but a search of the Windy City failed to locate the fugitive.

Pharmacist Turned Fugitive

Griffin eluded detection for six years. During that time, she was profiled on America’s Most Wanted eight times. In 2005, the publicity finally paid off.

A woman working at a biotechnology firm in El Cajon, California, a few miles east of San Diego, recognized her coworker as the fugitive. Griffin had only modified her name, living under the alias Lake Griffin. She was arrested without incident.

Griffin had been working as a lab assistant at the firm for nearly three years. She was found to have earlier worked in a thrift store and a local fast food restaurant.

An AMW Capture

Malaika Griffin testified in her own defense at her trial, claiming she had shot Jason Horsley in self-defense after he attacked her. It was a tough sell because Jason had been shot in the back of the head, and the jury was not buying.

In March 2006, Griffin was convicted of first degree murder, aggravated robbery, and aggravated motor vehicle theft. Under Colorado law, a first-degree murder conviction results in an automatic life sentence in prison without parole. She received an additional ten years on the latter two crimes.

Griffin Is Found Guilty

Griffin appealed her convictions in April 2009, arguing they should be overturned because her trial attorney was not licensed to practice law in Colorado and that her notebook writings should not have been admitted as evidence against her because they were written for a novel she was developing, i.e. they were written in the form of a manuscript as opposed to a manifesto. She also argued she had fired the gun accidentally after being startled by Jason and Deborah’s barking dogs.

The Colorado Court of Appeals rejected all of Griffin’s arguments, and her convictions were affirmed.

Appeals Denied

Now fifty-three-years-old, Malaika Griffin is serving her life sentence at the LaVista Correctional Facility in Pueblo, Colorado.

Serving Life

The impetus for Malaika Griffin’s feelings of hate are unclear. She never expressed any racist sentiments to her parents, her few friends, or coworkers. No one in her family or small inner circle harbored such attitudes, and she was not a member of any racist organization. In her work, Griffin interacted with many white people, both male and female, and never exhibited any signs of hate.

Somehow, a talented scientist who had a stable upbringing and who had graduated near the top of her college class developed an intense hatred toward people of another color. How and why Malaika Griffin did so remains a mystery to all who knew her, and to possibly even herself.

Malaika Griffin Is A Mystery