More than two decades after the Washington, D.C., sniper attacks paralyzed the nation’s capital, a new documentary is reframing one of America’s most frightening crime sprees through the eyes of the woman who was the real target.
For three weeks throughout the fall of 2002, many news headlines called it “the D.C. Sniper case.” But what no one knew at the time was that the violence wasn’t random. It was personal.
Hunted By My Husband: The Untold Story of the DC Sniper, premiering as part of Investigation Discovery’s annual No Excuse for Abuse campaign, centers the narrative on Dr. Mildred D. Muhammad, ex-wife of convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad. For years, her name was known only in connection with the violence that swept across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Mildred shares her full story with the Washington Examiner for the first time, of how that violence was rooted not in random cruelty, but in the calculated obsession of a domestic abuser determined to kill her.
Before the DC sniper, John Muhammad was Mildred’s husband
Mildred recalled memories of her favorite items suddenly disappearing and learning to cope with an increasingly challenging environment. Their marriage, she said, began with a wedding night promise of “99 years together,” but soon became a cycle of manipulation, emotional abuse, and fear.
“I was walking on eggshells because I didn’t know quite what to say. Because if I express joy in something that I liked, it will be gone, disappear, broken… I stopped expressing the things that I like,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
John served as an Army combat engineer and was injured in Desert Storm, later being diagnosed with PTSD. Mildred detailed the drive home after receiving the diagnosis and how he had become a different person.
“He looked the same, but he wasn’t the same. He was quiet all the way home. He didn’t want to talk. That’s when I knew something [was] not right. The man that I married wasn’t there, and the one that came back was a complete stranger,” Mildred said in the documentary.
Mildred said the marriage and emotional abuse worsened, ultimately ending in divorce in 2001, after 12 years of marriage.
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“He said, ‘You’ve become my enemy. And as my enemy, I will kill you,” Mildred said in the documentary.
The statement, chilling in its simplicity, reframes the sniper story entirely — not as a tale of domestic terror, but as the ultimate act of domestic violence.
“John was not one to speak frivolously. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said, when he said, ‘You have become my enemy, and as my enemy, I will kill you.’ He charged at me. I ran to my brother, who was at home, and I told my brother, ‘John’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me,’” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
Her brother replied, “John’s not going to kill you. He’s just playing.”
She never went to her brother for help again.
“Never went to him again, because I don’t have time to help you to understand that my life is in danger now, and that’s exactly how I felt. He is going to kill me. He’s going to kill me and bury me somewhere where no one will be able to find me. I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt, no doubt whatsoever. I was terrified at that point. I couldn’t get anybody to believe me, because I didn’t have physical scars,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
The documentary details how Mildred did everything domestic violence advocates recommend: She sought help from police, filed for protection, and tried to keep her children safe. But time and again, she was told there was “nothing authorities could do,” because John’s name was still on the lease; because there was no formal custody agreement; because, as the police told her, “he has just as much right to be here as you do.”
“Between filing and the actual court date is when he took them [her children]. So there was no parenting plan in place, which meant he had as much a right to the children as I did. So there was nothing they were going to do. So I had to take all of that into my own hands. I just stopped believing that law enforcement could help me. I just have to do this myself,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
The buildup to the DC sniper
John kidnapped their three children for 18 months when he initially told her he was only going to have them for a weekend.
“I was not going to stop until I found them. I created a website. I had flyers, I had a 1-800 number. I had everything that I was supposed to have to try to find them. I knew someone knew where my children were… I can’t even tell you the pain that there is knowing that I’m laying my head on a pillow every night, and I don’t know where my children are,” Mildred said, detailing the experience to the Washington Examiner.
John took his children back to Antigua, unbeknownst to Mildred.
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“What I remember is landing and then being in a cab… my dad was like, ‘We’re gonna be here for right now. Your mom’s coming,’” Mildred’s daughter, Taalibah Muhammad, said in the documentary.
While in Antigua, John took in a “forgotten” teenager whose mother often left for extended periods. His name was Lee Boyd Malvo.
“One day, my dad came back home, and my brother John was with him, and this young boy, my dad says, ‘This is your new brother. His name is Lee.’ And we were like, ‘Okay,’” Taalibah said.
Malvo later came to the United States illegally and became John’s accomplice.
With the help of a private investigator, Mildred united with her children. Having not seen them in 18 months, the family had to relearn each other.
“Well, they had some abandonment issues… It was just a point of being specific with them so that they could know they were safe. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
The fallout of the DC sniper
Throughout October 2002, John killed 10 people and injured three others at random with no apparent motive, gripping the nation and specifically the Washington, D.C., area.
The range in victims and locations made the investigation challenging for law enforcement.
Police officers got a tip to look out for two caucasian men and a white van.
Iran Brown, a 13-year-old student, was shot in the chest and critically wounded at Benjamin Tasker Middle School. While investigating the crime scene, police found a tarot card.
“On one side of the tarot card, it said, ‘For you, Mr. Police, do not release to the press’.’ And on the other side, it was, ‘call me God,’” Melissa Thomas, a retired FBI Supervisory Agent, said in the documentary.
“That hit a nerve. We’re looking for somebody that’s nuts, that has a God complex, and no one knew who the next victim was going to be. He was in control. He decided who lived. He decided who died. And the shootings were becoming a daily thing, then the media got involved,” said David Reichenbauch, retired operations commander for the criminal intelligence division of the Maryland State Police, in the documentary.
Investigators learned John had purchased a Chevy Caprice in New Jersey, and within hours, he was found at a rest stop in northwestern Maryland.
When investigators finally caught John and his teenage accomplice, Malvo, they found evidence that changed the “random sniper” narrative. The spree was a smokescreen. Hidden among the chaos was his true intent: to murder Mildred and make it look like just another random shooting.
“During our investigation, we found that John had all this anger that Mildred had custody of his children, and he had been abusive before that, so we definitely thought it was a plausible theory that she was a target,” Thomas said in the documentary.
The woman who refused to be silenced
In the years since the attacks, Mildred has built a life around ensuring no one else endures what she did. She’s become one of the nation’s most respected advocates of survivors of abuse, trauma recovery, and resilience. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore appointed Mildred to the Maryland Board of Victim Services, serves as a certified consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, and is a speaker for the U.S. Department of State.
“Now I’m in a position where I can put forth my voice to help other people in the state of Maryland,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
Through her organization and partnership with agencies from the military to Fortune 500 companies, she educates leaders on non-physical abuse — the kind that leaves no visible scars, but can destroy lives from the inside out. She works to train law enforcement, health professionals, and even athletes on identifying coercive control, supporting victims, and fostering safer communities.
“This is my mission,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
“So that’s why I continue to speak, because 80% of victims do not have physical scars to prove their victims. My help was so slow in coming, absolutely slow because I had no scars and I didn’t fit the profile of a victim of domestic violence, abuse, and violence,” she added.
The film anchors Investigation Discovery’s No Excuse for Abuse campaign, a network-wide initiative supporting Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Partnering with The Hotline and her organization NO MORE, the campaign uses the documentary as both education and action — arming viewers with resources to identify abuse, seek help, and intervene.
“There are many laws on the books. Unfortunately, everyone [doesn’t] know what they are. PSAs are so important, and unfortunately, they either have to go to YouTube or social media to see a PSA… you need PSAs for domestic abuse and violence,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
She spoke with the calm authority of someone who has lived through the unthinkable and emerged stronger.
“We know every nine to 15 seconds a woman is abused, that’s the violence, but the abuse is the one to eight seconds that lead up to the nine to 15, so you have to start talking about where it begins, and perhaps it won’t get to the nine to 15 seconds,” Mildred said to the Washington Examiner.
Hunted By My Husband: The Untold Story of the DC Sniper premieres on ID at 9 p.m. on Oct. 28.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1.800.799.SAFE (7233), or online at their website 24/7.
