In October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, terrorized the Washington region during a shooting rampage that left 10 people dead. Both were captured and found guilty of murder. Muhammad was sentenced to death and is awaiting execution. His ex-wife, Mildred Muhammad, tells The Examiner how she’s made a new life for herself and her three children.
What happened when your husband returned from military service in Saudi Arabia?
Something happened over there. He asked his commander for help in filing a discrimination complaint, but they said he tried to commit suicide. When he got home, there was a very gradual change. He stopped paying the rent and gave me only $50 a month for food for my three children, my mother and myself. I couldn’t eat. When I asked for a divorce in 1999, he changed the phone number five times and started coming around the house threatening me. After he kidnapped our children, then aged 8, 7 and 10, and took them to Antigua for 18 months, I went to the FBI in Maryland. I told them I had to look over my shoulder all the time because I knew he wanted to kill me, but nobody believed me.
You’re now helping other women?
Last August, I started a Web site: afterthetrauma.org. My focus is mainly on survivors of domestic violence. After the trauma, there’s little or no assistance for them, and that hasn’t changed since my ordeal began in 1999. I didn’t have physical injuries, but there was so much psychological and emotional damage.
How can people best help women in domestic violence situations?
Somebody always knows. Don’t assume, don’t judge, don’t tell her what to do, because you don’t know the situation or what that person is feeling. Just ask one question: “How can I help?”
