Virginia Beach, Va. ? The wife, the mistress and the children.

All were heard from Wednesday, in one form or another, at convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad’s trial.

First came Mildred Muhammad, the woman who, by all accounts, unwittingly pushed her husband over the edge when she divorced him and won custody of their children.

Then there were the letters. Written with a child’s scrawl and sounded-out spelling, they declared never-ending love for a father — a man found guilty of one of the most horrific crimes in modern memory.

And then there was the lover — the woman whose relationship with Muhammad provided a spark that may have melted down his marriage to Mildred.

Mildred Muhammad’s appearance in court was much anticipated. It was the subject of courtroom buzz for weeks. Throughout the trial, prosecutors offered the $10 million ransom demand as the major motive behind the sniper killings, but they suspected another motive: Muhammad wanted his ex-wife dead so he could reclaim his children.

The sniper killings were intended to make Mildred Muhammad’s death appear random, prosecutors believe. However, the judge barred them from making that argument to jurors, saying they lacked evidence.

In court Wednesday, with no visible emotion, Mildred Muhammad told how Muhammad repeatedly threatened to kill her after they separated in September 1999 in Tacoma, Wash.

“He told me, ‘You and Olivia are not going to raise my kids,”‘ Mildred Muhammad testified, explaining that Olivia is a friend.

Mildred Muhammad said Muhammad told her, “You have become my enemy, and as my enemy, I will kill you.”