In Scared Silent, Mildred courageously opens up the deep emotional wounds of her tumultuous twelve-year marriage to John. Over the course of the past seven years, Mildred has reflected on how and why her marriage unraveled, waking up daily to the reality that the man who once promised to protect and love her wanted her dead.
Mildred openly depicts the insidious effects of domestic abuse, specifically verbal, stalking, economic, mental, and emotional abuse—all forms of domestic abuse that are much less understood, yet, for some, equally as damaging as physical abuse. In telling her story, Mildred has become a face and voice of the millions of women who are victims of domestic abuse, yet whose scars are emotional rather than physical.
Mildred shares how, like many domestic abuse victims, she could not get adequate help from the police when she filed abuse complaints against John or when she got a restraining order on him before he kidnapped their children for 18 months, changed their identities, and exhausted her bank accounts. But when John was captured, it was Mildred’s restraining order that allowed police to hold him on violation of a weapons charge until they could secure more evidence to name him as the sniper.
John's killing scheme began by victimizing Mildred’s best friend Isa, who had accompanied Mildred to an emergency custody court hearing. John's intent was to kill Isa for her betrayal, but Isa’s niece was the first murdered sniper victim—a catastrophic result of mistaken identity since she was staying with Isa when John unleashed his deadly revenge.
Mildred reveals how after she regained custody of the children she went into hiding with them because John had threatened to kill her. This eventually sparked his cross-country plot from Tacoma, WA to Maryland, where Mildred had fled, to kill innocent victims as a smokescreen before also killing Mildred so that her death would seem like one of the random killings. John could then permanently gain custody of their children.
Eventually, John’s own best friend tipped off authorities after learning of the suspicious sniper killings in and around the nation’s capitol where he knew Mildred had fled. His information helped lead to John’s arrest along with John's young accomplice Lee Malvo.
Scared Silent is the compelling story of Mildred Muhammad, who has become a nationally recognized spokesperson for domestic violence, an advocate for victims of crime, and is the founder of the non-profit organization After The Trauma. Mildred has received numerous honors and awards for her work, notably, a special commendation from the U.S. Department of Justice for her extraordinary contribution to the prevention of domestic violence and in
appreciation for her commitment to the mission of the Office of Violence Against Women. Scared Silent is complete with a full resource guide of State Coalitions against domestic violence and a comprehensive safety plan for victims and survivors.
To learn more about Mildred, please visit www.MildredMuhammad.com. For interviews contact Stephney Thomas of I’MERGE PR at 832-326-6171 or by email at info@imergepr.com
