"Hiding from Evil" - Episode 4 of FOX 5's True Crime Podcast about the DC Snipers
Hiding from Evil - Episode 4 | Three Weeks Of Hell: The DC Snipers Podcast
As the second week of the sniper shootings began, a mom and her three children in Prince George's County were anxiously watching the news reports like everyone else. But Mildred Muhammad had another reason to try to stay low: her ex-husband, John Allen Muhammad. Melanie Alnwick sat down in an unedited discussion with Mildred who shares she warned of his violence but no one listened.
As the second week of the sniper shootings across the DMV were about to begin, a mom and her three children in Prince George's County were anxiously watching the news reports like everyone else. But Mildred Muhammad had another reason to try to stay low: her ex-husband, John Allen Muhammad.
Mildred had come to the Washington, D.C. area to start a new life and re-establish her relationship with her children after getting full custody. In early 2000, she and John had recently separated. They were living in Tacoma, Washington at the time. Mildred says one day John called to tell her he was taking their son and two daughters shopping. In reality, they were boarding a plane for Antigua, where they would live for 18 months. That's where John met Lee Boyd Malvo and took him in. The children were told Lee was their new "big brother".
Mildred told FOX 5 that when the shootings began in October 2002, she was already on high alert. The children had a lot of separation anxiety, as John often left them alone in Antigua while he was traveling to sell fake passports and birth certificates.
"We enrolled them in school, and just tried to live a normal life. However, I would still check the rooftops when I left because John was a 84th Combat engineer and part of his training was tracking. I felt eventually he would find me and I just needed to stay on alert," Mildred recalled. "So when the shootings started, we were told to look for two Caucasians in a white box truck. So I was looking for that - and I was looking for John too. Everybody was looking for two people. I was looking for three. So we were in fear just like everybody else, didn't know who it was. It was a very unnerving experience for everyone."
Mildred says she knew John would come after her with one shot - but at the time she never put her personal fears of her ex-husband and the collective fears of the Beltway Snipers together.
In Part One of our conversation with Mildred Muhammad, she discusses her early life with John - how their once happy relationship changed, how his personality took a dark turn - and how difficult it was to get people to listen to her when she believed John was dangerous.
"They don't ever believe victims who don't have scars. I didn't have a scar. 80% of victims don't have physical scars to prove they're victims. Business people, nurses, doctors, police officers... they could all be victims, but they're not going to tell anybody because as soon as I tell you I'm a victim of domestic violence, your opinion - the light that you have in your eye when you see me diminishes," Mildred explains.
Today Mildred Muhammad is the author of a dozen books and an advocate for victims of domestic violence. Later in our podcast series, Mildred talks about the night the FBI came knocking on her door to tell her John was going to be named as the sniper - and how she put her life, and her children's lives, back together after that.
Editor's Note: Episodes of "Three Weeks of Hell: The DC Snipers" come out on Wednesdays. You can find episodes on FOX5DC.com in addition to YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart, and TuneIn.