Muhammad, 42, is already on Virginia's death row after being convicted late last year by a Virginia Beach jury of murdering Dean Meyers outside a Manassas gas station.

That was one of 10 killings across the national capital region that Muhammad and his accomplice, 18-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, carried out during a three-week rampage in the fall of 2002.

Malvo is now serving a life sentence without chance of parole after a Chesapeake jury found him guilty in the shooting death of Linda Franklin in the parking garage of a Falls Church Home Depot.

Both trials were moved out of Northern Virginia because of concerns about juror impartiality.

Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Horan Jr. now intends to prosecute Muhammad in connection with Franklin's death.

Prince William prosecutors are debating whether to put Malvo on trial in connection with Meyer's death but have said they are waiting for an unrelated ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of sentencing juveniles to death.

The pair has been linked to nearly a dozen shootings across five states, and other jurisdictions have been waiting in line to prosecute them.

It was up to Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) to determine where they went next, and he opted to keep them in the commonwealth, opening the door for this swap.

Some have questioned the need for another lengthy trial, citing the multimillion-dollar cost to taxpayers for the two previous trials.

Horan has said he wants another conviction as an insurance policy. Muhammad and Malvo's convictions for capital crimes automatically get appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.

In addition to being convicted for capital murder, Muhammad and Malvo also were convicted under Virginia's new anti-terrorism law, which has yet to be tested by the high court.

Muhammad's attorneys are working on his appeal and have said they may try to delay another prosecution until their work on the first trial is fully completed.