Ex-wife of infamous "DC Sniper" John Allen Muhammad reveals how the man she loves disintegrated into a monster who threatens to kill her, in Season 1, Episode 4, "DC Sniper: John Allen Muhammad."
A&E® leads the cultural conversation through high-quality, thought provoking original programming with a unique point of view. Whether it's the network's distinctive brand of award-winning disruptive reality or groundbreaking documentary, A&E makes entertainment an art form. Visit us at aetv.com for more info.
911 operator: Emergency 911 Center. Man: There's been a shooting at Margellina Restaurant.
- I would check the rooftops before I left the house. - No one was safe. The victims were completely random.
- I saw a flashing light, and I was shot five times. ( glass shattering ) - He said, "I could take a small city, terrorize it.
They would think it would be a group of people and it would only be me." - John Allen Muhammad should be considered armed and dangerous.
- He wasn't crazy. He was just evil. Reporter: A woman has been shot and killed while waiting for... - I was terrified.
I knew that John was going to kill me. - It was the greatest serial killer manhunt in US history.
Reporter: A 37-year-old man was shot and wounded outside a restaurant in... - I am Mildred Muhammad.
I was married to John Allen Muhammad who became a serial killer.
- John Muhammad never said he was sorry in any way. Melissa Moore: Serial killers devastate everyone around them.
I know. I'm Melissa Moore, and my father murdered eight women.
My story encouraged other family members of killers to come out of the shadows. It's now my mission to help them on their journey
to reach out to the families of the victims and express their sorrow for their crimes.
This is the intimate horror of having a "Monster in My Family."
John Allen Muhammad was born John Allen Williams in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
After his mother died when he's age four, he and his siblings are raised by an aunt. With no father in his life,
Williams strove to be a dedicated family man. The degree his life would disintegrate
would shock everyone who knew him. - John was so charming, and because he was so well liked,
people couldn't put the shooter with his personality. All right.
Melissa: In 2002, Muhammad and his young accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo,
launched a series of sniper attacks that kill and wound victims across the DC area.
Today Malvo is serving a life sentence in federal prison. He spoke with me from his maximum security cell
to reveal the inside story of this nightmare.
- Did you call him Dad, or what did you call John Muhammad?
- Not far from the site of some of the Beltway shootings, I'm looking forward to meeting with Mildred and then taking her to meet
with relatives of the victims and survivors of the shootings.
- Hi, Mildred. - Hi. Nice to meet you. - Hi, Mildred. Melissa. - How you doin'? - Good.
So you want to come on inside, and we'll talk? - Sure, okay.
- What was life like with John before everything transpired the way they did?
- Well, he was a jovial person, he was the life of the party. Everybody wanted to be around him. He could fix anything.
- ( chuckles ) - I mean, he was like MacGyver... - Mm-hmm. - ...and he-- he was just great.
Melissa: Mildred meets John in 1983 when they are both 23.
- He could make me laugh about anything. He was romantic. He brought me flowers. I was happy.
He was trying to get into the military, but he couldn't read, so I taught him how to read
so that he was able to be accepted and that's when he moved to Washington State
and asked me to come with him. Melissa: Mildred and John marry in 1988.
- This is my wife reading on her own without me asking her. I got to get this on tape. We got to document this.
- He was a demolition expert, expert shot. He could make a weapon out of anything,
and he was a hand-to-hand combat expert. John: Come on get it. Come on. Melissa: In the next few years,
John and Mildred have a boy and two girls. - My Dad was a great father.
He always was there for his children. My Mom and my Dad didn't have a favorite.
It was just attention on every child. - John loved his children. He was playful with them.
He made sure they were happy. Whatever activities they were involved in,
he was a real involved father.
Melissa: In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, John is deployed to Saudi Arabia.
- Before he left, we sat down with pen and paper. He said, "Look,
this is what I need you to do if I don't come back." He was only there for three months.
When he came back, that strong, confident,
jovial, happy man that left was no longer there.
At the time, he was diagnosed with PTSD. - Mm-hmm. - That was new. No one knew what to do about that.
He would sit in a corner. He no longer wanted to have eye-to-eye contact.
I was not prepared for the verbal abuse. It was always a personal attack
on what I was trying to do to help him. Melissa: In 1994, John Muhammad leaves the army
and starts his own auto repair business in Tacoma. Mildred hires Isa Nichols as their accountant.
- At that initial meeting, I felt a connection with her 'cause of her smile, her energy when she walked into the room.
Our friendship just evolved naturally. It was nothing to think about. Mildred began to change a lot.
She began to not be that smiley person. There was no violence. There was no hitting or beatings or any of those types of things.
Domestic abuse is emotional. It's psychological. - There were items in the house that I liked...
- Mm-hmm. - ...and I would tell him-- just make a comment, you know, this is a really nice cup, I really like this cup. - Right.
- The next day it was broken. I had a jacket that I loved, and the next day, it was ripped up.
I was like, "Why are you doing this to my things?" He says, "It's just a point of mind over matter." I said, "What does that mean?"
He said, "I don't mind because you don't matter."
Melissa: In 1999, the couple separates, but that doesn't mean John is gone.
- He began coming in the middle of the night with his key.
He would stand over the bed to listen if I was breathing. I opened my eye just to watch him go from
one side of the bed to the other, stand up and walk out of the house.
I was terrified. I had to go to court. They gave me a lifetime restraining order. The judge told me that you need to get away from this guy.
I said, Your Honor, I'm really trying to do that. Melissa: But before Mildred can make that break,
John Muhammad picks up the three children after school and disappears with them.
- I had no idea where they were. I went home and called the police,
and they asked, did we have a parenting plan in place. I said, "Well, we were getting ready to go to court." He said, "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do."
Taalibah: We were completely oblivious that we were taken from my mother's wishes. Absolutely no idea. - I called the FBI for help,
and I called everybody that I knew that he could possibly take them to,
but I never thought he would take them out of the country. - We were just going with the flow,
and the flow was with Dad, so we went to Antigua. But eventually, it was a question in my head
where my Mom was when he said that she's coming.
- I had to put my head to a pillow every night and not know where my children are.
I can't articulate that kind of pain. Melissa: On Antigua,
a chance encounter between Muhammad and a local boy will change all of their lives.
- Mr. Muhammad's kids would play arcade games, video games, and they met Lee Boyd Malvo who was a teenager.
- Lee was very fun and supportive, and he was always there, too. He really played brother greatly.
Melissa: After 18 months in Antigua,
authorities suspect Muhammad is selling false identity cards. In the summer of 2000, he hurriedly flees the island.
He takes his own kids back to the United States and leaves Lee Malvo behind.
- We asked, is Mom here, and he said, you'll see her soon, or she'll be here soon,
same as the past year and a half. Melissa: When Muhammad applies for aid in Washington State,
authorities uncover Mildred's Missing Children report.
The stage is set for a court battle. Mildred asks Isa to go with her for support.
- I said sure. I didn't even think twice. - That was the first time I had seen my children in 18 months.
- We were like Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, we're jumping up and down. I missed her so much. Melissa: The judge awards Mildred
custody of the children. - John was angry.
He chased Mildred down the hall. - He said, "You have become my enemy, and as my enemy, I will kill you."
Melissa: Fearing for her family's safety, Mildred changes her name and takes her children all the way across the country
to a Maryland suburb outside the nation's capitol. John Muhammad is ready to do whatever it takes
to get his children back.
He turns to the one person who won't question his motives.
Melissa: Over the next five months, John Muhammad turns Lee Boyd Malvo
into a cold-bloodied assassin.
Melissa: In February, 2002, Muhammad points Malvo at his first target,
his ex-wife's ally, Isa Nichols.
Melissa: Lee Boyd Malvo knocks on Isa's front door with a gun in his hand.
Melissa Moore: For more than a decade, Mildred Muhammad has been living with the stigma
of being the ex-wife of John Muhammad, the DC Sniper. Soon she'll be meeting victims' relatives
and survivors of the attacks. - It hurts that they have to live
the rest of their lives without their family members.
We prayed for the families that were affected by what he did,
and we hoped that they were being comforted. Melissa: In 2002, John Allen Muhammad
wants revenge against his ex-wife
and anyone who helped him lose custody of his children. On February 16th, he sends Lee Malvo,
the young man he's trained to be a killer, to Isa Nichols' front door with a .45 in his hand.
( doorbell rings ) - I had left to go to the store,
probably around 4 or 5 o'clock that evening. When we returned,
my niece Keenya's lying in the doorway. I grabbed Keenya's hand.
I remember saying "Hold on, baby." The paramedics came. They-- they couldn't revive her.
She was dead. TV reporter: Keenya Cook was shot and killed when she answered her front door.
Her six-month-old baby girl was asleep upstairs where her mother had left her.
Isa: Keenya was a 21-year-old single mother who was just beautiful.
Our agreement was that she could stay and save up some money. She was gonna enroll in culinary school 'cause she wanted to open up a restaurant.
Every day she was about making things happen. Melissa: 3,000 miles away outside Washington, DC,
Mildred Muhammad is unaware what has happened in Tacoma, but she knows her ex-husband is determined to punish her
for getting custody of their children. - Did you think you were in the clear?
- Even after I got the children and moved to Maryland, I never thought I was in the clear. I never thought I was starting a new life.
I believed everything he told me-- "I'm gonna kill you... - Mm-hmm.
- ...and no one is gonna be able to find your body." Melissa: From his prison cell today,
Lee Boyd Malvo confirms that was Muhammad's goal.
Melissa: After Mildred flees with the children, John Muhammad convinces a friend to run a trace on her.
He learns she is living near Washington, DC. Muhammad and Malvo leave Tacoma
and make their way cross-country.
Melissa: It's believed Malvo and Muhammad kill at least seven people in Arizona, Texas,
Louisiana, and Alabama on their way to DC. - They would find somebody that would be carrying money, small store owners.
They would observe their routines, and then they would attack them basically and rob them.
( siren wailing )
Melissa: No one realizes these seemingly random killings are connected.
By September, 2002, Muhammad and Malvo have reached Washington, DC.
They cruise by Mildred's house.
- I had no idea that he was en route from Tacoma, but I knew John could track.
I would check the rooftops before I left the house, front and back door.
I'd never befriended anybody. I felt that if he was gonna kill somebody, then it would just be me,
and I didn't want to be responsible for someone being killed because of me.
Melissa: They zero in on a small restaurant only a few blocks from Mildred's house.
- My wife and I'd just started an Italian restaurant, became very successful, a lot of work, a lot of fun.
It was a friendly place, pretty safe place. Not a lot of crime.
Melissa: At closing time on September 5, 2002, Malvo is outside.
- I walked to my car, I opened the back door and put my laptop and my briefcase
on the back seat, got in, shut my driver's door, and before I could blink literally,
I saw a flash of light to my left... ( gunshot, glass shattering ) and the window exploded, and shots came in...
( gunshots ) and I was shot five times.
( siren wailing ) - My choice was to lie there and die
or to get up and get out and see what the hell I can do. I said, I don't want to die in this parking lot.
Melissa: Muhammad comes up with a brazen plan to get his kids back and eliminate Mildred.
Melissa: Muhammad will carry out a series of random sniper attacks
on a wide range of innocent victims.
Melissa: Muhammad and Malvo used the money they stole from Paul La Ruffa
to buy a blue Chevy Caprice that used to be a police car. - They purchased that vehicle and within a short period of time, constructed it to be their killing machine.
- Muhammad and Malvo altered the vehicle by removing the back seat so you can easily flip the back seat up and down
so you can crawl into the trunk from the back seat, and above the license plate in the back of the car,
they cut out an opening. They could fire a shot from there. No one would see it...
and then they could crawl right back in through the back seat without getting out of the vehicle and drive away.
Melissa: On October 2, 2002, the blue Caprice pulls into a parking lot
outside a crafts store in suburban Maryland. John Muhammad's mad plan begins,
triggering what will be the largest manhunt in US history.
Melissa: It's been over a decade since John Muhammad terrorized the nation's capitol,
but the pain he inflicted still weighs on his victims. - After I was shot, I was just messed up
because you don't know who did it and I was horribly anxious and paranoid.
I just remember being incredibly nervous. I couldn't be by myself. It was horrible.
Melissa: With funds stolen from Paul La Ruffa, Muhammad converts a blue Caprice into a killing machine.
He and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo launch their sniper attacks on a Maryland community.
- We're now in the parking lot of the Michael's store in Aspen Hill where on October 2nd,
the first shooting with regard to this sniper investigation took place.
Melissa: Capt. Bernard Forsythe headed the investigation for the shootings in Montgomery County.
- The shot did not hit anybody. We think the sniper actually missed his target here.
It was only 20 minutes later and about two miles down the road
where our first victim was actually murdered. Melissa: The next morning, the number of shootings escalates.
Reporter: He was at a gas station in Aspen Hill simply filling his tank and was shot dead. Reporter #2: A woman has been shot and killed
while waiting for her ride to work. - It was absolute chaos and pandemonium.
And they were calling guys in from off duty and respond here and respond there.
Melissa: The snipers kill six people in little more than one day.
- They were everybody's brother, sister mother, father. They were out, just going about doing everyday things...
and their lives were taken from them.
- Were there some people that were off limits that you wouldn't shoot or kill?
Melissa: The entire DC area goes into high alert.
- My mother always kept us up with current events. We were never unaware of what was going on.
So she said there were people that are injured and have been killed,
so just stay alert and stay close and don't wander off. - So now I'm worried about a sniper
and I'm worried about John. My co-worker picked me up for work one day,
and she said, you know, there's a dark-colored car outside your cul-de-sac,
and I get very uncomfortable. So we passed the car, and there were two African-American males
seated in the car. The driver looked at us, but the passenger had a newspaper
and held it up to shield his identity. So I called the police and they said, can you describe the car.
I said, it is a dark-colored Caprice or Impala, two African-American males seated in the car.
She said, okay, we'll get somebody out there. Melissa: By the time the police arrive,
the car is gone.
Mildred's unaware she's had a very close call.
Inside the Chevy Caprice, Muhammad's endgame has expanded
beyond killing Mildred and taking the children back.
Melissa: By October 19th, nine people are dead, and two are wounded when the snipers strike again.
Reporter: A 37-year-old man was shot and wounded outside a restaurant in Ashland, Virginia. Melissa: At the crime scene,
police discover a message left behind by the snipers. - It was a four-page note that essentially spelled out
very specific orders on obtaining $10 million. - I think they were thriving on the attention they were getting from the media and the public fear.
- ( telephone rings ) - Melissa: The killers take the brazen step of phoning the police.
It's a phone call that will turn the case on its head.
( siren wailing ) In 2002, John Muhammad launches a killing spree
to get revenge on his ex-wife.
Today, Mildred Muhammad remembers the terror and pain. She wants to share her sorrow with the victims and their families.
- I knew he was gonna kill me, no doubt in my mind.
I just didn't think he would include other people. - When Keenya was murdered,
we were very, very much traumatized and in a lot of pain.
My niece took a bullet for me. - ( telephone rings ) - Melissa: In October, the sniper task force hotline
gets a mysterious call from a boastful tipster. - He indicated that he was responsible-- he actually used the term "we" are responsible
for the shootings in your area. Contact Det. Martinez, I believe it was
of the Montgomery, Alabama case, and you'll know that we were responsible for that shooting, too. Melissa: The caller points investigators
to a previously unconnected shooting from a month earlier. On a Friday night in September, Kellie Adams had been working
at a liquor store in Montgomery, Alabama, alongside the store manager Claudine Parker.
- I believe we closed that night at seven. We always kind of look in the parking lot to make sure there's no one hanging around,
just for our safety. We didn't see anything unusual, so we went outside.
She put the key in the lock, and the next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground.
I felt this huge knock on the back of my head, so I turned my head to the left
and this part of my face literally flopped open. Melissa: Claudine Parker is dead,
and Kellie Adams is seriously wounded.
- The bullet entered behind the back of my ear. It destroyed all the skin and it went through my jaw and all this,
and they said that if it had gone 1/16th of an inch further over,
game over. I saw someone run by me.
- He dropped a catalog, and it had a fingerprint. That fingerprint was run
by the federal agencies involved in the investigation and found a hit to an INS database
to Malvo being fingerprinted earlier that year. Just to have a name associated with a suspect was a huge break.
Melissa: The same day DC investigators learned Malvo's name, one of John Muhammad's old army buddies
contacts the FBI. - Robert Holmes called in to the FBI in Tacoma, Washington, and said, I'm afraid
that the ones doing the killings in the DC area could be a friend of mine from the army,
and provided the name John Allen Muhammad. Melissa: Holmes reports Muhammad introduced him
to a young man that he nicknamed "Sniper." - We sent a photograph of Malvo to Mr. Holmes and said,
is this the person that you're describing as your nickname Sniper, and he said, yes-- and so, that was the first time
we'd put the two of them together. - ATF told me, Miss Muhammad,
we're just gonna have to tell you we're gonna name your ex-husband as the DC Sniper,
and my head just hit the table. - John Allen Muhammad should be considered armed and dangerous.
He may be in the company of a juvenile.
- I found out that my Dad was the DC Sniper on the TV screen just as everyone else did.
It was... it was shocking. It was very shocking for-- for all of us.
I remember just crying because I haven't seen him in so long and then I see him in this setting.
When I found out that Lee was also involved, I cried more. It was unbelievable.
- I heard my son crying on one bed, my daughters crying on the other,
and I pulled them together, and they were crying and, "Mommy, what did Daddy do? What did Daddy do?"
I said, well, they said he killed a lot of people. Melissa: Once investigators had Muhammad's name,
it doesn't take long to discover he's recently registered a car,
a dark blue 1990 Chevy Caprice.
News of the make and model of the car soon hits the street. - We got extremely lucky that night
when a truck driver saw their car in a rest stop. - Obviously these are people
that killed at least 10 people at this point and shot others, and there was a good chance that this could be
a bloody takedown. Melissa: Mildred Muhammad is about to meet with victims
whose lives were shattered by the crimes of her ex-husband John Muhammad, the DC Sniper.
- He was cold and he was calculating and he knew exactly what he was gonna do
before he did it.
Melissa: In the darkness before dawn on October 23, 2002,
police silently surround a car that belongs to the DC Snipers. - I remember it being very quiet.
It was a bright late fall night. It was one of those nights you could hear everything.
I heard them actually break the window out. Within a couple minutes we heard, "We've got the suspects.
They're handcuffed, they're under control." - Shortly after 3:30 this morning,
the Tactical Response Team arrested two individuals from that vehicle who were sleeping in the vehicle. They were taken into custody without incident.
- The Bushmaster was found secreted behind the back of the back seat
in the fire position with the safety off, locked and loaded and ready to go, and it just...
Malvo said it was the fact that he fell asleep on his watch or they wouldn't have been caught alive.
- When they had him in handcuffs, and several police officers were walking behind him,
and as I'm watching that, I glance over at my children, and they're glued to the TV, and Mommy, that's Daddy, that's Daddy.
I said, I know, honey, I know. - When we searched their vehicle, we found the rifle, computer,
bullets, ammunition, a number of other things that linked them to each of the scenes and each of the shooting victims.
Melissa: The arrests of John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo stuns viewers on the West Coast, too.
For eight months, Isa Nichols and her family have wondered who shot Keenya Cook.
- I see John's face on the TV. DC Sniper John Muhammad.
I immediately knew that John had something to do with Keenya's murder.
Melissa: Malvo confesses to shooting Keenya. - Ballistics were matched to a firearm that they had access to,
and it was connected to them. Melissa: In 2003, John Muhammad is put on trial in Virginia
and charged with the deaths of two victims in that state. - The first time I saw John face-to-face in the courtroom...
Here was this very detached, cold, blatant look-- uncaring, undiscerning.
- I've never seen a defendant with Muhammad's demeanor. I mean, he would look you in the eye and it just was creepy. I'd never experienced anything like it.
Melissa: Lee Boyd Malvo is put on trial separately. - Malvo was very cunning and calculating,
and I felt like when I had eye contact with Malvo, it was almost smirky,
and he was very arrogant and almost boastful. I sat through the entire trial of six weeks just feet from him,
and there wasn't a moment of sadness or remorse. Melissa: A split jury spares Malvo the death penalty,
and he is sentenced to life in prison. If you could talk to the victims,
what would you say?
Melissa: John Muhammad is sentenced to death. His execution is set for November 10, 2009.
On that day, Mildred and her three children wait by the phone to speak to him one last time.
- And we've got the cell phone seated right here waiting for the call... and they're like, "Mom, is he gonna call?"
I said, he said he would call, so we've just got to be patient.
Just, you know, he's gonna call. They just wanted to hear his voice.
He didn't have to say much. He coulda just said, how you doing.
That would have been sufficient for them. So the time kept winding down
and then I saw this man coming up to the microphone, and I knew we wasn't gonna get that call.
- The execution of John Allen Muhammad has been carried out under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- I remember sitting in the living room and...
somebody came to the mic and said that he was... He was gone.
It was a hard time for me. I mean... ( sniffling )...
He was my dad.
- He was given every opportunity that our system affords him, and his victims certainly had no opportunity.
Melissa: The legal case is closed, but the families of the 16 victims killed by Muhammad and Malvo,
and 10 more people who survived the attacks, still live with the trauma the two men inflicted.
Now Mildred Muhammad is about to reunite with Isa Nichols for the first time since the shootings
and share her sorrow with Paul La Ruffa. What do you think will come of tomorrow?
- We each have a different way to heal because each situation was different.
- It's been 13 years at least since we've spoken.
This is probably the only unreconciled piece in my life.
Melissa: Everyone connected to the DC Sniper tragedy is still scarred by the attacks.
Isa Nichols' niece Keenya was the first to fall victim to John Muhammad's rage.
Paul La Ruffa barely survived being shot. For years, Mildred Muhammad has worked to come to terms
with the damage her ex-husband inflicted. Today she's meeting with Paul and Isa
to hear of the pain they've experienced at his hands. Mildred, this is Paul.
- I'm looking forward to talking to them because I may be able to find something out that would help me.
I may be able to say something to help them. - Look at this hair! Oh, my goodness!
- I'm here for a restorative peace. I'm only interested now in helping people like myself--
survivors of trauma, victims of any type of trauma-- to get back to healing. There has to be some truth-telling,
and without truth, you can't reconcile. - I'm so happy that all of you decided to meet today.
You all shared a traumatic experience.
You know, Isa, I want to give my condolences for your loss. Where are you at today?
- Keenya-- we loved her so much and we miss her, but we have Angel. We have her daughter who's just gorgeous.
- Paul, tell me how it was early on. - When it happened-- and for the next couple of months-- it was...
it was hell. It was... the worst thing that I've ever experienced.
Having flashbacks that you can't control was horrible. I heard other people talk about trauma. You say, well, just don't think about it or just control it.
But you-- but you can't. You can't control it. For me, luckily, the conclusion of that came
when I knew who did it when they were caught and I knew I was safe.
Mildred, do people ever react negatively to you when they find out who you are?
- At that time, they told me that... - You should have seen it coming or... - No. If I would have stayed with him, then he just would have killed me.
If I would have stayed on the West Coast, then the people on the East Coast would still be alive.
Um, how dare I bring this drama into a quiet community and how dare I call me and my children victims
when neither of us were killed. - See, that amazes me how people can...
- I was blamed because they couldn't get to John. Everyone I feel is entitled to their feelings
and how they process their emotions. - How do you all feel about Lee's part in the shootings?
- He does say that he was a monster, and I hated him for what he did. - Me, too. ( chuckles )
Those are the rawest feelings, you know. You hate, resentment, guilt, but forgiveness is the key.
No matter what, I forgave John, I forgave Lee. I had to. I had no other choice
'cause I was not going to be dealing and keeping all of that inside of me. - You know, people have different
definitions of forgiveness. It's a hard thing when people say did you forgive him and I say, yes,
and I say, well, it doesn't mean I say, oh, it's okay. What you did was all right. It's not like that. It's you can't go on if you don't.
You ruin yourself if you don't start with yourself and if you don't do it, then you can't progress.
- Right. Everything is a process, and you have to find your own way
in that healing process. I decided I wasn't gonna carry a bag around with John's name on it,
and whatever I needed to do to make sure that that bag was not with me, that's what I did.
- All three of you were invited to John's execution. Why did you go or not go?
- My daughter decided that she wanted to go, and our experience was what it was.
She and I both looked at each other and said, well, we know that that didn't bring any closure.
That was just more death. That was just more loss of life. - I chose not to go, and I just didn't want to spend
anymore time of my life on that. I only have a certain amount of time
and I wasn't gonna let him steal another day. I wanted to enjoy that rather than...
see him die.
I said, I understand why you folks are there, and if it helps you out, you should be there.
- Mildred, how did you spend that night with your children? - That was a highly-charged,
emotional time for my children, and my only concern was how I'm gonna help my children through this process.
I became an advocate for victims of domestic violence, especially the 80% who don't have physical scars
to prove that they are victims. - When did the memories start to get easier?
- When you can think about it without hurting, balling up in a fetal position. - Yeah, that's true. - Mm-hmm.
- You don't never forget. - Right. You never forget it. When people say, are you over it, you never get over it. You never get over it,
but that doesn't mean it haunts you. You have a choice. You can either be a victim for the rest of your life
or you can do something about it and see, we all have that in common. - Yes. Life goes on.
I see restoration here at the table. I take back restoration.
- The human spirit is amazingly resilient. There's a lot of tragedy you can overcome in your life, but you have to work at it.
I mean, it's up to you. Nobody's gonna do it for you. There's no medicine for it. You've just got to do it.
- There were so many different cultures, races involved that had lost family members.
We looked like a United Nations, and they all were tragically-- all were taken
before their time.
No comments:
Post a Comment