The alleged terrorist behind the New Year’s killing spree in New Orleans was a born-and-bred Texan, an Army veteran, and father of three who had climbed the corporate ladder.

But Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s burnished professional résumé belied a path that had gone off course. In recent years, the Houston-area resident’s life appeared to take a grim turn, with a contentious divorce and his finances in a deep hole, according to a desperate email he sent to his then-wife’s lawyer in 2022.