Beginning ten years ago tomorrow, I spent two weeks covering the Beltway sniper attacks around Washington, DC., when I was on the photo staff of the Philadelphia Daily News. It was a different time — in the wake of 9/11, still in the midst of bio-weapon and other terrorism threats, and during the rush toward war in Iraq.

Blogs hadn’t really come of age, I didn’t write any sort or diary, and the guy with whom I worked most closely has since passed away. But photos stir my memories and so now I am planning to start posting at least one photo from each day for the duration.

To begin, here is a photo I made about halfway through the assignment, a simple memorial:

This was my original caption: Candles flicker at a memorial growing at the scene where Linda Franklin was murdered Monday night. Freddie Porto (see other photo) left the white Rosary beads at lower left. DAILY NEWS PHOTO / JIM MACMILLAN 101602

And a little background from Wikipedia today: On October 14, at 9:15 p.m., 47-year-old Linda Franklin, an FBI intelligence analyst who was a resident of Arlington County, Virginia, was shot dead at Arlington Boulevard and Patrick Henry Drive after she finished shopping at a Home Depot with her husband in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside Falls Church at Seven Corners Shopping Center.