A DC sniper’s ex-wife reveals that she was his target

Dr. Mildred Muhammad was marked for death by her ex-husband, an ex-military soldier who would later become known as the “DC Sniper”.

During their 12-year marriage, the mother of three endured emotional and psychological abuse in silence. Even after the couple separated in 1999, John Alan Muhammad continued to stalk and terrorize her. When she changed her phone number, he still found it – and then showed up at her house unopposed.

“He told me, ‘You have become my enemy and I will kill you as my enemy,'” she told Fox News Digital.

BTK killer’s daughter calls him ‘subhuman’ after relationship ends after final jail showdown

John Alan Muhammad and his teenage accomplices terrorized the nation’s capital and surrounding areas for three weeks. (Virginia Department of Corrections via Getty Images)

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Muhammad is now speaking out in the new Investigation Discovery true-crime documentary, “Hunted by My Husband,” which explores John’s relentless desire to kill her so he can have custody of their children.

John, an expert rifle marksman, and his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo shot and killed 10 people and wounded three others over a three-week period in October 2002 that terrorized the Washington, DC area. Associated Press Reported. Several other victims have been shot and killed across the country in the past months as the duo traveled from Washington state to areas around the nation’s capital, the outlet shared.

A map is displayed on a screen during the penalty phase of the trial of convicted Washington area sniper John Allen Muhammad in Virginia Beach Circuit Court on November 18, 2003. A map on Muhammad’s laptop shows landmarks indicating alleged shooting sites and potential shooting sites in the Washington, DC area. (Dave Ellis-Pool/Getty Images)

During the investigation, officers theorized that John believed that killing Mildred would help him gain custody of their children by pretending to be the victim of a random gunman.

Dr. Mildred Muhammad talks about the case “Hunted by My Husband” in a new true-crime documentary. (inspection search)

Muhammad met John in 1985 in Fort Lewis, Washington. She was shopping with a friend when he approached with “a beautiful smile”. They went out that same evening and later married in 1988.

She described her husband as deeply invested in their relationship, and they quickly started a family together. But after serving in Operation Desert Storm in 1990, he returned a changed man. John had a shoulder injury and was diagnosed later Post-traumatic stress disorder. When Muhammad and their older son, John Jr., went to visit him in the hospital, she recalled that “the lights were on, but no one was home.”

A note written by John Alan Muhammad was found in a bag at the scene of the shooting on October 19, 2002. (Adrin Snider-Pool/Getty Images)

Follow the Fox True Crime Team on X

John Alan Mohammed, seen here in this undated photo, was an expert marksman. (Montgomery County Police/Getty Images)

“He would just sit in the corner, rocking back and forth,” she recalls. “He didn’t want to have a conversation anymore. Even when I tried to engage, he felt threatened. He was full of anger—but it was a different kind of anger.

“John was quiet. He was trained in psychological warfare, so he would do things that made me question everything I did. I looked at him and said, ‘Why are you angry?’ He would reply, ‘Why do you say I am angry?’ Then he went to the mirror, wiped his face with his hand – and whatever emotion there was was gone.”

David Reichenbaugh served as the Criminal Intelligence Operations Commander for the Maryland State Police. He was here during the filming of “Hunted by My Husband”. Mildred is seen contacting Muhammad. (inspection search)

Once warm and attentive, John quickly became angry and consumed by paranoia. He cooled down and began to calculate, if he refused them, Muhammad’s belongings would disappear. He would pay attention to the smallest things, punishing her with silence for a few days when she dared to act independently. To avoid his silent anger, Muhammad learned to be calm. He was pointing out her own worth, repeatedly telling her that she didn’t matter.

Dr. Mildred Muhammad is seen with her daughters in her office on September 13, 2008 in Camp Springs, Maryland. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“I tried to reach out for help, but I don’t have physical scars,” she said. “I tried to go to my place of religion, and all you’re saying is that I want to honor my husband. But how can I honor a man who hurt me emotionally?”

“Abusive relationship Don’t start hard,” she reflects. “They start with a dream that they’re going to sell you because they’re trying to control your life without your knowledge. Once you submit to that dream, they develop affection for you. Then you start thinking, ‘What have I done?’ You don’t understand that it’s not your fault. … If you try to make contact, you’re going to be in trouble.”

Brendan Shea (left), a DNA expert with the FBI, points to a Bushmaster rifle used in a sniper shooting as Prince William County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney James Willett (right) carries the weapon on November 5, 2003 in Virginia Beach. (Dave Ellis-Pool/Getty Images)

The conflict escalated after Muhammad filed for divorce. She went into hiding with her family after John threatened to kill her. A judge granted a lifetime restraining order — but there was a loophole.

Sign up to receive the True Crime newsletter

Dr. Mildred Muhammad told Fox News Digital that her husband was a different person after being diagnosed with PTSD. (Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“The restraining order was against me, not the children,” she explained. “Even though it was for life, visits were required every weekend. We were preparing to go to court to make a custody decision. That’s when he took them.”

In 2000, John kidnapped their three children and took them on an 18-month odyssey to Antigua. Washingtonian Reported. Muhammad told Fox News Digital that because there was no parenting plan, she was told, “He has just as much right to the children as you do.”

Dr. Mildred Muhammad had been separated from her three children for 18 months. (inspection search)

“There are no words to describe the pain I was in,” she said.

Dr. Talibah Muhammad, daughter of Mildred Muhammad and John Allen Muhammad, spoke in “Hunted by My Husband”. (inspection search)

“in my prayersI said, ‘Lord, I have to give my children back to you. I can’t focus on what I have to do and not worry about them. I am handing them back to you so that I can prepare myself to stand before the judge to prove that I can take care of them.’ At the end of that prayer, I cried for two hours. Then I felt a presence — as if someone had covered me with a blanket up to my neck. I stopped crying.”

“I didn’t cry much after that,” she added. “That’s when I started taking paralegal courses to learn how to get my children back. I had a writ of habeas corpus, which meant that wherever they found my children, they had to return them to me.”

John Alan Muhammad kidnapped children without permission. Using false identities and fake documents, he took them out of the country to Antigua in the Caribbean. (Steve Early-Pool/Getty Images)

Muhammad was reunited with her children in 2001 after an emergency custody hearing in Tacoma, Washington, Washington reports. Then, in 2002, investigators knocked on her door Maryland, where she lived.

Get real-time updates live on True Crime Hub

Dr. Mildred Muhammad was in hiding when she learned from investigators that her ex-husband was a DC sniper. (inspection search)

“They said to me, ‘Did you hear any gunshots in the area?’ I said, ‘No, I haven’t,'” she recalled. “An agent stopped by and said, ‘We’re going to tell you — we’re naming your ex-husband as a DC sniper.’ My head hit the table. They asked, ‘Do you think he would do such a thing?’ I looked up and said, ‘Yes.’

Muhammad remembers watching a movie with John once when he turned to her and said, “I can take a small town and terrorize it. They’ll think it’s a bunch of people. It’ll just be me.” When she tried to ask why, he quickly changed the subject.

John Alan Muhammad was also known as the “Beltway Sniper”. (Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)

The investigator told Muhammad, “Didn’t you know you were a target? A man shot you two miles away at a convenience store. Directly across the street from you another man shot you six times. He took $3,000 and his laptop. Ms. Muhammad, you were the target.”

“Hunted by My Husband” features never-before-seen home videos of the Muhammad family and new interviews with law enforcement officials who worked tirelessly to track down and identify the sniper. (inspection search)

Muhammad and her family were rushed to a hotel for safety.

“I saw the TV – he was there,” she said. “I put my hand on the screen and said, ‘What happened to you?’ My kids cried themselves to sleep. I went into the bathroom, turned on the water, sat on the floor and screamed into the pillow.”

“The next day, he was caught,” she added.

Click here to get the Fox News app

John Alan Muhammad was executed by lethal injection on November 10, 2009. He was 48 years old. (Steve Helber-Pool/Getty Images)

In Antigua, John meets Malvo, a Jamaican teenager, with whom he forms a father-son bond. John was accused of spying on Malvo to act as his accomplice in the shooting.

Lee Boyd Malvo is serving a life sentence. (Rich Lipsky/Getty Images)

With the help of tip, Police arrested John and the 17-year-old were sleeping in their car at a Maryland rest stop, ending a three-week reign of terror in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia, according to BBC.

John was executed in 2009 at the age of 48. Malvo, now 40, is serving a life sentence without parole.

Dr. Mildred Muhammad is now a speaker and advocate for survivors of domestic violence. (Lou Rocco/Disney-Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Today, Muhammad advocates for survivors of domestic violence and hopes her story will encourage others to seek help before it’s too late.

“My help was slow to come in,” she said, “but I knew I had to do it for my kids.”

“Hunted by My Husband: The Untold Story of the DC Sniper” premieres Oct. 28 at 9 p.m.