When federal agents met Mildred Muhammad, the ex-wife of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad, their words were urgent: ‘‘Mrs. Muhammad, we’re getting ready to release his name. He is a suspect. We need to put you in protective custody.’’ The agents peppered her with questions as they took her, her children and her relatives to a secret location: Had she talked to him? Did she know what he was doing? Did she know him to have weapons? Would he really try to kill her? She could answer yes only to the last question. Sniper suspects sent to Virginia for trials Washington: The Justice Department turned over sniper suspects John Muhammad and John Malvo to Virginia officials on Thursday to face murder trials — Muhammad in Prince William County and Malvo in Fairfax County. US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the decision at a news conference held here. — LATWP Without a doubt, yes, he would try to kill her, she said. For three years, Mildred has been scanning her surroundings and glancing at buildings, expecting to see her ex-husband perched nearby with a gun trained on her. He had promised to kill her, and perhaps more than anyone, she knew he was a man of his word.Her account offers the most textured and detailed portrait available of the man prosecutors believe is behind 21 shootings in six states and Washington DC. Mildred, 42, spoke calmly, sometimes with animation, as she described her relationship with John.She last saw him in Washington on Sept. 4, 2001, she said, when she was granted full custody of their children. Now she is convinced that his chief purpose in coming to the Washington area was to kill her. ‘‘I’m sure he had me in his scope,’’ she said. ‘‘This was an elaborate plan to make this look like I was a victim so he could come in as the grieving father and take the children.’’ She expressed her deep sorrow over the deaths of so many people. ‘‘They all died because of me,’’ she said softly. She felt sorry for John Lee Malvo, 17, the second sniper suspect, whom she has never met. ‘‘His life was over from the time he said, ‘Hi John,’ ’’ she said. ‘‘He just didn’t know it.’’Since Muhammed and Malvo were arrested at a highway rest stop in Frederick County, Md., on Oct. 24, Mildred and her children have been in seclusion. (LATWP)
