CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Although John Allen Muhammad is refusing to testify in the capital murder trial of fellow sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, he has become the focus of the courtroom.

Jurors on Monday heard more testimony about 42-year-old Muhammad than about the 18-year-old Malvo. Malvo's defense attorneys questioned Muhammad's ex-wife, several of his acquaintances and even his family lawyer as they continued to lay out their insanity defense.

They contend Muhammad brainwashed their teenage client and molded him into a killer. Muhammad was convicted last week and a jury recommended a death sentence, but he still faces prosecution in other states.

The judge was expected Tuesday to discuss whether the defense may show the jury any part of Muhammad's military records, which prosecutors object to as hearsay.

Muhammad's ex-wife was not allowed to testify Monday that Muhammad had threatened to kill her in 2000, agreeing with prosecutors that the statement was hearsay.

But Mildred Muhammad did testify that she saw a car similar to Muhammad's near her home in the Washington, D.C., suburbs one week after last year's sniper shootings in the area began, bolstering a defense argument that she was to be the ultimate target.

Mildred Muhammad spotted the car on Oct. 11, 2002 -- the same day Kenneth Bridges was gunned down at a northern Virginia gasoline station -- as she left for work. The passenger hid his face behind a newspaper and "the driver just sat and stared," she said. She apparently did not recognize the driver.

She called 911 and told the dispatcher that a dark-colored Caprice or Impala with New Jersey tags was outside her house and seemed suspicious. She did not say whether law enforcement took any action.

Mildred Muhammad's description matches the car that authorities say was modified to serve as a "killing platform."

Prosecutor Robert F. Horan Jr. objected to much of her testimony, rejecting the defense notion that the spree was part of a plan by John Muhammad to kill his ex-wife without inviting suspicion toward himself so he could regain custody of his three children.

"This defendant has never claimed they killed the people they killed because of the divorce battle," Horan said.

Malvo, in statements to police, said the killings were part of a scheme to extort $10 million from the government.

Mildred Muhammad also testified that John Muhammad was a disciplinarian who "had to have complete control" of their three children.

She said she took out a restraining order against Muhammad because after they separated, he pushed his way into the house so he could visit his sick son. She also said that he came after her in the hallway after a court hearing in which she regained custody.

Jurors earlier listened to an audiotape of that Sept. 4, 2001 hearing in Tacoma, Wash., in which a judge granted immediate custody to Mildred Muhammad, who had not seen the children for 18 months in part because Muhammad had taken them to Antigua. John Muhammad said little during the hearing.

Jurors also heard from several people who knew Muhammad in Antigua and testified that he was a great, if strict, parent.

Malvo's lawyers had hoped to put Muhammad on the stand this week, but Malvo defense lawyer Craig Cooley said he'd been informed Muhammad would refuse to testify.

Cooley said he still wants Muhammad to appear so jurors can contrast his size with that of the smaller Malvo.

"A picture speaks a thousand words," Cooley said after court. "A human form standing in a courtroom speaks even more."

Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush said she saw no need for Muhammad to make a silent appearance, and urged the prosecution and defense to try to find a solution.

Muhammad and Malvo are charged in or linked to the killing of 10 people and the wounding of six in the D.C. area, plus shootings in Washington state, Arizona, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.