SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – It is one of Utah’s most frequent yet under-reported crimes. Victims’ rights groups are teaming with law enforcers to get the word out about the scourge of what they call “The Hidden Crime.”Domestic violence.
Law enforcers and social workers say too many victims keep quiet and too many cries for help are going ignored.
That’s what happened to MildredMuhammad. What unfolded next was one of the worst killing sprees in the nation’s history.
October, 2002. PrinceWilliam County, Virginia. A sniper, on the loose. Over four weeks, 25 people were shot from Alabama to Virginia.Ten people were killed.
As federal investigators pieced together the evidence, they discovered it all started with a domestic dispute.
“It started as domestic violence, a child custody issue,” says Mildred Muhammad, ex-wife of the man who would become known as the D.C. Sniper, John Allen Muhammad.
"He found me. He knew where I was,” says Mildred. “He was going to make me a part of the random shootings and come in as the grieving father to get custody of the children.
Mildred was the keynote speaker at today’s session of Utah’s Crime Victims’ Conference in Salt Lake City. She came from her home in Virginia to warn victims, social workers and law enforcers of just how dangerous this all too common crime can become.
Cache County Attorney James Swink says he hopes the warning reaches into Utah’s rural cities and towns and victims find the courage to come forward.
“It happens a lot more than we actually see.”
ABC 4’s exclusive crime data reporting resource, CrimeReports.com, shows 284 reports of domestic violence in the past 30 days in Salt Lake County alone. Those were only victims who called police.
A Dan Jones poll found one in every four women in Utah have been a victim of domestic abuse.
Swink says his office is burdened with cases.
"Those cases are very difficult to prosecute. By the time they are screened by an attorney and charges are filed, the individual who reported it often sees there’s a lot on the line that she would probably lose.”
Who are those victims?
"They’re everybody, says New Hope Crisis Center Director Annette McFarlane. “They’re your sister. They’re your niece. They’re your neighbor. It doesn’t matter what your economic class is or what your education is. It happens to everybody.”
MacFarlane says too many women at her shelter and others have already allowed years of abuse that takes years, if not a lifetime, to heal.
ABC4.com is providing resources for learning who is likely to be a victim and what to do about it.
To find out what Utah is doing to protect and help domestic abuse victims:
crimevictim.utah.gov
To find out how to recognize the signs of domestic abuse in your home:
helpguide.org
To get help for victims of domestic violence:
ndvh.org (The National DomesticViolence Hotline)
To find out more about Mildred Muhammad’s story and her national outreach:
afterthetrauma.org
