Timeline of suspects' lives and the shooting investigation

DEC. 31, 1960: John Allen Williams is born in Baton Rouge, La. He is raised there.   NOV. 23, 1981: Williams marries his high-school sweetheart, Carol Kaglear, in Baton Rouge. They have a son, Lindberg, now 20, and divorce in 1988.   NOV. 6, 1985: Williams enlists in the U.S. Army. He will serve 8.5 years, and gain expertise as a metal worker, combat engineer and water transport specialist. In 1985, he meets Robert Edward Holmes at Fort Lewis, Wash., where both men have been assigned. Holmes becomes a close friend.   1992-93: Williams is assigned to the 13th Engineer Battalion at Fort Ord, Calif., and then to the 14th Engineer Battalion at Fort Lewis.   SUMMER 1995: A custody battle begins between Williams and ex-wife, Carol, when he files for custody of Lindberg while the boy is visiting. Carol wins and the son returns to Baton Rouge.   OCT. 16, 1995: The Million Man March, called by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, is held in Washington, D.C. Williams will tell a friend he provided security there.   MAY 15, 2000: Williams threatens to kill Mildred while she is at Tacoma General Hospital, Mildred says in court documents.   MAY 23, 2000: Williams sells a Bushmaster rifle, semiautomatic .223-caliber firearm, at Welchers Gun Shop in Tacoma. Possession of the gun is in violation of the protection order, which will later be cited in the arrest warrant.   JUNE 2001: Malvo and his mother are smuggled from Jamaica via Haiti to Florida. Later that summer, Malvo and Muhammad both live at the Lighthouse Mission shelter in Bellingham.   SEPT. 4, 2001: Mildred gains custody of the children. She will go into hiding. She relocates with her children in Clinton, Md.   DEC. 19, 2001: Malvo is taken into INS custody in Bellingham. He is released for an INS hearing on Nov. 20, 2002.   JULY OR AUGUST 2002: Muhammad and Malvo fire a .223-caliber rifle - similar to the one used in the sniper attacks - outside a duplex at 3310 S. Proctor St., Tacoma.   SEPT. 21, 2002: One woman is shot and killed, another wounded outside a liquor store in Montgomery, Ala. Malvo is tied to the scene.   OCT. 2, 2002, 6:04 P.M.: James D. Martin, 55, is killed in parking lot of grocery store in Wheaton, Md. He will be identified as the first of 10 people killed in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., during a three-week sniping spree. Three others are shot but survive.   OCT. 23, 2002: Federal agents tear up the yard outside the duplex on Proctor Street in Tacoma, looking for bullet casings. They also search student records at Bellingham High School, reportedly looking for samples of Lee Malvo's handwriting.

1978-85:   Williams serves in the Louisiana National Guard and receives basic and advanced engineer training.  FEB. 18, 1985:   Lee Boyd Malvo is born in Jamaica to Uma James and Leslie Samuel Malvo.  MARCH 10, 1988:   Williams and Mildred Green marry at Fort Lewis. They will have three children: a son, now 12, and two daughters, now 10 and 9.  1991:   Williams serves in the Gulf War during the allied attack.  APRIL 26, 1994:   Williams is honorably discharged from the U.S. Army with the rank of Sergeant (E-5). He has received the Southwest Asia Service Medal and the Kuwait Liberation Medal and qualified as a hand-grenade expert and marksmanship (M-16) expert.  SEPT. 8, 1999:   Williams and Mildred separate. Divorce papers are filed in Pierce County Superior Court on Dec. 29, 1999. March 27, 2000 he abducts the children.  FEBRUARY TO MARCH 2000:   Pierce County Superior Court issues a temporary order for protection, restraining Williams from having any contact with Mildred and excluding him from their home at 7302 S. Ainsworth Ave. in Tacoma. On March 17, a court commissioner finds Williams had committed domestic violence, and signs permanent order.  APRIL 23, 2001:   Williams changes his last name to Muhammad in Tacoma Municipal Court.  AUG. 31, 2001:   A Whatcom County sheriff's detective, assigned to the Muhammad custody case, finds the father out looking for work and the three children in school, two of them enrolled under fictitious first and last names. The detective places the children into custody of Child Protective Services.  APRIL 2002 (approximately):   Muhammad and an associate come to Holmes' Tacoma home, displaying an AR-15 assault rifle and either a 303 or 30-06 rifle. In June, they take a rifle to the range to align its scope. Muhammad will try to build a silencer.  SEPT. 2002:   Muhammad tries to buy a 1965 Lincoln Continental from Old Volks Rod and Custom in Tacoma. Owner Todd Paulson says Muhammad stopped by three times wanting to buy a '65 "Suicide Door" (the back door opens opposite) but couldn't afford it.  OCT. 17, 2002:   A Montgomery County, Md., public-information officer receives a call from someone law-enforcement officials now believe was the sniper.  OCT. 22, 2002:   The FBI interviews Holmes, Muhammad's friend.  OCT. 24, 2002, 3:19 A.M.:   Muhammad and Malvo are arrested by members of the sniper task force at a rest stop in Frederick County, Md.