four years later, the children's father "came to stamps without warning" and returned them to their mother's care in st. louis. at the age of eight, while living with her mother, angelou was sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend, a man named freeman. she told her brother, who told the rest of their family. freeman was found guilty but was jailed for only one day. four days after his release, he was murdered, probably by angelou's uncles. angelou became mute for almost five years, believing, as she stated, "i thought, my voice killed him; i killed that man, because i told his name. and then i thought i would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone..." according to marcia ann gillespie and her colleagues, who wrote a biography about angelou, it was during this period of silence when angelou developed her extraordinary memory, her love for books and literature, and her ability to listen and observe the world around her.