Susan Murphy-Milano...

According to police reports, since last June, her estranged husband -- Theodore Howard a k a Bryant Cassidy -- has paid someone to throw acid in her face; put sugar in the gas tanks of two vehicles; repeatedly shattered the windows of her home causing thousands of dollars in damage; slashed her tires, and hooked up a listening device to her phone line.

According to police reports, since last June, her estranged husband -- Theodore Howard a k a Bryant Cassidy -- has paid someone to throw acid in her face; put sugar in the gas tanks of two vehicles; repeatedly shattered the windows of her home causing thousands of dollars in damage; slashed her tires, and hooked up a listening device to her phone line.

It's all in the police reports that Brown carries around like a minister carries his Bible.

It's all in the police reports that Brown carries around like a minister carries his Bible.

"He's obsessed with me. I have a file on all these things he has done. I'm trying to get him off the street because he's dangerous," Brown told me during a recent interview in my office. "Every day I come home, I don't know what will happen next." Last week, he broke a patio window with landscaping rocks, according to a police report filed by neighbors who allegedly saw him lurking around her house. "I'm on my seventh homeowner and auto claim [in one year], and they canceled me," she said.

Brown's story shows just how little orders of protection actually help domestic violence victims, and how much this kind of domestic terrorism can cost the victim.

Because Brown, a Metra train engineer, was the likely target of gunshots fired at a train, she has been assigned to another job that pays $30,000 less a year.

"Ain't nothing I can do. I can't cower down," Brown told me. "I got a brand-new house that I bought in 2004, and I've got to sell it. I've reduced the price because I've just got to move."

Brown, 41, says she is now a month behind on her mortgage because of the pay cut.

"They have incidents where other people have stalkers on the train, and they put them in the office and gave them their regular pay, but they are not doing it for me," she said.

Judy Pardonnet, Metra's Director of Media Relations, confirmed that an unidentified person fired on the Metra train to which Brown was assigned on two occasions.

"There was damage to one of the train cars -- two bullet holes were found in the train, but no one was injured [by gunfire]," Pardonnet said. "In the other shooting, there were reports that the train was fired upon, but we did not find any damage to the train."

As for the reduced pay, Pardonnet said Friday that that issue will soon be resolved.

"The management didn't know how long the investigation would continue. Our immediate concern was for the safety of our employees and passengers. But the investigation is continuing, and she will go back to her original rate of pay for the next six months," Pardonnet said. "At that time we will reassess the situation."

Police have traced some of the domestic violence incidents -- the criminal damage to property and domestic battery -- to Howard/Cassidy. He was arrested on Oct. 27, 2006, and charged with violating orders of protection, domestic battery, interfering with reporting a domestic battery, resisting arrest and battery to a police officer.

But Brown is convinced that the man she has known for 21 years and has been married to for five is also linked to the two incidents in which someone fired shots at the engineer's cab. Those incidents, on June 6 and 8, were suspicious enough for Metra officials to pull Brown from the train route and post a "Metra Police Community Alert" with two composites of a suspect and a police mug shot of Howard/Cassidy, 46.

Because Brown had switched her schedule with two other engineers so that she could attend a son's sports event, she wasn't harmed, but the engineers who replaced her were injured when they heard gunshots and tried to duck.

Brown's union is collecting donations for a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible for the train shootings.

"This is no coincidence," Brown said. "If you just sit on the platform, you see the same engineer go back and forth. It's not hard for somebody to track down your routine and your schedule. He knows where I work."

The composite doesn't resemble her estranged husband, which is why Brown suspects someone was hired to do the shooting. In the earlier "acid" incident, an unidentified man Brown described as looking like a "bone or crackhead" came to her door and pretended to be looking for work before throwing a chemical at Brown's face. She and her 6-year-old son were splattered and were treated at the scene by paramedics, according to police reports.

"Everybody was hysterical," Brown said.

This woman has every reason to fear for her life. Even though there have been two warrants out against Howard/Cassidy since last October, because he skipped court dates, police are unable to find him.

"He went to jail and got a $40,000 bond and got bonded out," Brown said.

"We don't know where he is staying. We are still trying to locate him," Matteson Police Chief Norm Burnson said. He said investigators have stepped up surveillance of Brown's home.

Meanwhile, Brown is forced to live an isolated existence as she waits for police to make an arrest.

"I had to cut everybody off because I don't want my friends and my kids to get hurt," she said. "I don't want to bring this mess to them."

Anyone with information about Howard/ Cassidy should contact the Matteson Police Department at (708) 748-1564.

If you are or know someone who is in a violent relationship, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.  The services provided are free and confidential, available 24 hours a day. 

BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist