Unless this sniper is a total loner, someone close to him/her surely suspects that they could be capable of committing these horrendous and cowardly acts. Why has no one been turned in?

There is now speculation that Ashcroft (and others) mambling on about the death penalty for the sniper may keep a family member from turning him/her in. Here's what the Unabomber's brother has to say about it.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-nyhen162967323oct16,0,4534721.column?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

This is another example of the costs of the death penalty. It's not just money spent, but opportunity costs. Let's say a sibling knows who the shooter is, but delays coming forth for an extra day or a week as they struggle with the realization that they could be signing a loved one's death certificate. Meanwhile, more murders occur. What did that cost? You can't point to any specific financial transaction to tally it up, but there is definitely a huge cost.

Look to at what our nation's stand on the death penalty costs us in the international community. Our allies feel compelled to not share (and publicly admit the same) their intelligence information with us, because our barbaric stance on killing prisoners would make them complicit in the death. What does that cost?