What happened next is under dispute: =
Mildred Muhammad=20
said he kidnapped their three kids and ran. He said he had her =
permission to=20
take them.
A Good =
Father
John Muhammad and his three children flew =
to Antigua=20
in late March 2000 for what their host thought would be a short =
vacation. (not=20
cheap, ed.)
"My cousin [in Washington state] told me =
his friend=20
wanted his kids to see Antigua," said Janet Kellman, who hosted them in =
her=20
simple wood-frame cottage.
They stayed with Kellman for more than =
four weeks.=20
She recalled that Muhammad would get up early in the morning and run =
with his=20
son. "You could tell he was a good father -- he loved his kids," Kellman =
said.
But eventually, Kellman "threw them out," =
she=20
said.
The family wound up about a mile away in =
a=20
neighborhood called Ottos. The three children began attending =
Greensville=20
Primary School. People recall Muhammad as a friendly and outgoing=20
man.
"He was one of the nicest people you =
could meet,"=20
said Nelson, a neighbor. Nelson remembered talking to Muhammad about his =
Army=20
service and the accuracy of some of the weapons used.
While it is unclear how and when Muhammad =
met Malvo,=20
the young man was attending the nearby Seventh-day Adventist School. At =
some=20
point, about September 2000, he joined Muhammad and his children and =
told people=20
that his mother, Una James, was living elsewhere. Janet Harris, =
principal of the=20
school next door, said she remembers Malvo as a good-natured boy. But =
she was=20
struck by his parents' absence. (How did Malvo, the illegal alien, get =
back into=20
the U.S. ? ed.)
"He said his mother was in the States and =
his father=20
was in the Bahamas," Harris said. "I kept asking him. . . . Finally he =
said,=20
'You're asking too many questions.' But he seemed like a happy =
kid."
While on the island, Muhammad told =
impressive=20
stories. He variously said that he was a CIA officer, worked for the FBI =
or was=20
an international businessman. He also began consorting with a man who =
had a=20
history of running scams in New York and New Jersey, according to island =
officials and court documents. (Do we perhaps begin to see some of the =
real John=20
Muhammand here? ed.)
But he doted on his children. Muhammad =
even inscribed=20
their names on the concrete steps of the Greensville school. For =
Muhammad, his=20
children appeared to be everything -- and he was about to lose them for=20
good.
A Mother's Search
Mildred Muhammad was looking for her =
children. She=20
asked authorities in Tacoma to help her find them and get them back. She =
told=20
them that her husband had kidnapped them and threatened to kill =
her.
Unbeknownst to her, John Muhammad arrived =
at the=20
80-bed Lighthouse Mission homeless shelter in Bellingham in early August =
2001=20
with at least two of the children, said the Rev. Al Archer, the director =
of the=20
shelter. The men's shelter wasn't set up for families, but he allowed =
them to=20
stay anyway.
"We help everyone," he said. "We don't =
screen out=20
people."
The family's time in the shelter was =
uneventful until=20
Muhammad enrolled the children in school under assumed names and applied =
for=20
government assistance. On Aug. 31, 2001, authorities took the children =
out of=20
school; a judge ordered them returned to their mother.
Neighbors said Mildred Muhammad went =
"underground"=20
with her children. John Muhammad stayed on in Bellingham, using the =
shelter as a=20
base. He would disappear for days only to return and say he'd been out =
of=20
town.
Not much throws Archer, 65, who has =
worked with the=20
homeless for 29 years. But he did not know what to make of Muhammad, who =
once=20
received a phone call from a travel agent. How could he afford so much=20
travel?
"That was kind of strange," Archer said. =
"You don't=20
go to a mission for recreation. He was doing all this flying, three or =
four=20
trips that we were aware of, and he had to have money to do that. Yet he =
was=20
living in a homeless shelter. It just didn't all fit =
together."
Muhammad was conspicuously courteous and =
compliant,=20
Archer said. "He was such a nice guy," Archer recalled. "Whatever we =
asked of=20
him, he would do. We never saw him angry.
"But somehow he was different. He was =
just=20
different."
After Sept. 11, 2001, when the newspapers =
were full=20
of tales of terrorist sleepers, Archer said he began to wonder whether =
the quiet=20
and super-fit Muhammad was one.
In mid-October, Archer did something he =
had never=20
before done in his three decades of running ministries to the homeless: =
He=20
phoned the FBI about one of his clients.
"I thought that he was involved in some =
kind of=20
conspiracy against our country," Archer said. "I thought that he was =
traveling=20
around and doing things to promote this kind of thing."
As far as Archer knew, the FBI didn't =
follow up.=20
(Wonder why? ed.)
-------
Maximum Mayhem
Harjeet Singh, 38, =
couldn't=20
help noticing how fit Muhammad and Malvo looked. Singh saw the pair =
lifting=20
weights three or four times a week at the Bellingham YMCA, where he =
worked=20
out.
One day in January or February 2002, the =
three struck=20
up a conversation about weightlifting techniques, Singh said. After they =
exercised, Muhammad invited Singh to join them across the street for tea =
and a=20
snack at the Community Food Co-op, which specializes in organic=20
products.
They hit it off right away, and their =
get-togethers=20
became a routine. They talked about exercise, diet and vitamins. =
Muhammad seemed=20
like an expert on the topics.
Singh noticed that the pair popped =
vitamins and=20
supplements that were supposed to build mass, muscle and strength. When =
Singh=20
went to the health food store to buy some for himself, he was shocked to =
see=20
that they cost as much as $50 a bottle.
Muhammad and Malvo told their new friend =
they were=20
father and son. Before long, he invited the pair to his home to eat =
dinner and=20
meet his wife and three children. "They were casual . . . wrestling like =
normal=20
father and son," Singh said.
Still, there was an odd undercurrent to =
their=20
relationship that made Singh ask Muhammad whether John Lee Malvo was =
really his=20
son.
"Lee was acting like a little soldier =
talking to his=20
senior officer," Singh said. "When John Muhammad asked him something, =
instead of=20
saying, 'Yes, Dad,' he'd say, 'Yes, sir.' He was very disciplined and=20
well-behaved."
Singh, who has been a laborer much of his =
adult life,=20
enjoyed talking about religion and politics with Muhammad. Muhammad told =
him=20
that he didn't drink or smoke because of his conversion to =
Islam.
Singh and Muhammad shared a critical view =
of U.S.=20
foreign policy, Singh said. "I can say out loud that lots of American =
policy=20
makes suffering," he said.
But Muhammad went further, speaking in =
favor of the=20
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "He said that it should have happened =
a long=20
time ago," Singh said. (And did he hand out leaflets from the Fair Play =
for=20
Saddam Committee?)
In April 2002, their relationship took an =
odd twist,=20
Singh said. Muhammad asked his friend if he knew where he could get a =
silencer=20
for a gun. Singh dismissed the comments as tough talk, he =
said.
Muhammad left town. When he came back, a =
few weeks=20
later, he told Singh he had something to show him. It was mid-May when =
the three=20
met at the co-op. Muhammad showed him the steel rod, a book about guns =
and the=20
instructions on making silencers.
"He told me, 'Look, we are planning to =
shoot a fuel=20
tanker to cause a big explosion and maximum damage on the freeway. We =
want to=20
hide in the wooded area along the highway -- just shoot and disappear,' =
" Singh=20
said. "They wanted the silencer so nobody would know where the shot came =
from."
Muhammad also said they wanted to shoot =
and kill a=20
police officer, then massacre the officers' mourners by blowing up a =
funeral=20
home, Singh said.
"I think they were just hijacking Islam =
to justify=20
their actions," Singh said.
Afraid of landing in jail for associating =
with them,=20
Singh told them he didn't know anyone who could help them make a =
silencer. He=20
left the co-op without looking back but said he was afraid to go to the=20
police.
"These people knew where I live," he =
said.
Over the next two weeks, Muhammad and =
Malvo phoned=20
him at home. Eventually, he told his wife to say he no longer lived=20
there.
In early June 2002, Singh was arrested =
and jailed on=20
domestic violence charges. On June 5, as a Bellingham police officer =
took his=20
statement, Singh told him about his conversation with =
Muhammad.
The officer left and returned with a =
detective and an=20
FBI agent. Singh told him everything he knew. He said the officers acted =
as if=20
they did not believe him. (Wonder why?)
Singh entered a plea in the domestic =
violence case.=20
He was fined, sent to anger management classes and placed on probation =
for one=20
year, he said.
Muhammed and Malvo went on the =
road.
Sniper Suspect 'No Trouble' As Bar =
Regular
By William =
Booth
Washington=20
Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 27, 2002; =
Page A15=20
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- In his three decades =
tending bar=20
in the foggy waterfront taverns here, where the customers down beers and =
shots=20
of early-morning whiskey and sometimes pay with quarters and dimes, =
Wally Oyen=20
has seen some really rough customers. The suspected serial sniper John =
A.=20
Muhammad, for a time a regular, was not one of them.
"Quiet, polite, no trouble," said Oyen, =
the barkeep=20
and former private investigator, who knows what trouble looks =
like.
According to the tavern's owner, Lynne =
Farmer, this=20
place has served drinks, by last count, to possibly four notorious =
serial=20
killers, including Ted Bundy and the Hillside Strangler from Los=20
Angeles.
But all is sleepy this recent morning. =
Nat King Cole=20
is playing on the jukebox, and the night-shift workers from the local =
paper mill=20
are munching burgers and drinking beers.
But for a month last year, almost every =
morning from=20
late October through November, Muhammad, a convert to Islam, perched his =
lean=20
and muscular frame on a stool three seats from the cigarettes and =
aspirin=20
dispensers behind the bar, from 7 to 10 a.m.
He drank two or three pints of beer, =
called=20
"pounders" here -- the $2 Budweisers, to be exact -- and occasionally =
ordered a=20
shot of whiskey. He watched television, whatever was on, and did not =
stand out=20
much, even though he was a black man in a very white town.
Just passing through, he said. Paid for =
his own=20
drinks. Never cadged a cigarette or asked for a loan. Didn't talk =
politics or=20
religion, the regulars said. Didn't seem to be hustling for a job. Just =
sat and=20
sipped his beers at 8 in the morning.
An intelligent man, some regulars said. =
Seemed to=20
know what he was talking about when news interrupted the game shows =
regularly on=20
TV. Not a hothead. Not a drunk or a drug addict, the regulars agreed. He =
did=20
have this big, khaki duffel bag, but that is not unusual in the portside =
bars.=20
(Fine devout muslim. Sort of reminds me of those =
"hijackers.")
--------
DC Dave
Author, =
"America's Dreyfus=20
Affair, The Case of the Death of Vincent Foster"
"Upton Sinclair and =
Timothy=20
McVeigh"
"Seventeen Techniques for Truth=20
Suppression"
http://www.thebird.org/host/dcdave
News group: =20
alt.thebird