behind the Washington-area sniper attacks of 2002 , is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening at a state prison near Jarratt , Virginia . During two lengthy trials -- including one featuring testimony from young accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo -- and in several years of legal appeals , John Muhammad has continued to profess his innocence . Prosecutors say John Muhammad intended the killings to provide a smokescreen to cover up his real goal -- killing his ex-wife Mildred and gaining custody of his three children . Muhammad said she divorced John Muhammad because of abuse and has not visited him since he was in prison . `` I feel that all of my efforts , all of my energy is to help my children through this emotional turmoil that they are going through , '' said Muhammad . `` I do n't have an emotional attachment to John . '' John Muhammad 's other ex-wife , Carol Williams , also talked to King Monday . Williams , John Muhammad 's first wife , said she plans to visit him in prison with their son Tuesday before the execution . Williams also brought letters that John Muhammad wrote
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- His shooting spree left at least 10 dead and millions terrified of bullets coming from an unseen sniper . But Mildred Muhammad believes she was the ultimate target of her ex-husband , John Allan Muhammad , the man dubbed the `` D.C. Sniper . '' And for some time , Muhammad said she felt extreme guilt for the victims that were gunned down in grocery store parking lots and gas stations . The youngest was a 13-year-old boy who was shot while walking to his Maryland school . Muhammad spoke about the guilt she felt after the killing spree on CNN 's `` Larry King Live '' on Monday night , the day before her ex-husband was scheduled to be executed . Muhammad said she has gradually gotten over her guilty feelings and focused on her three children . `` I felt that way initially because I had done everything I knew how to do to bring attention to how dangerous he was to me , '' Muhammad said . `` I had no idea his anger would extend beyond me , to include all people in his killings . '' John Muhammad , the mastermind