Man’s Gun Discharges in Cleaning; Wife Killed : Accident: The shot from a .45-caliber handgun struck her in the head. Her husband formerly was a drug agent.

A 41-year-old woman died of a single gunshot to the head Sunday when a gun being cleaned by her husband accidentally discharged, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

The victim, Yvonne R. Clarke, was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo for emergency treatment after her distraught husband, Robert R. Clarke, called 911 about 1:30 p.m. and said that his gun “had gone off,” Sheriff’s Department Lt. Richard Olson said. She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 2:08 p.m.

“He was cleaning a .45-caliber handgun, and his wife was in the same room when the gun accidentally discharged, hitting her in the head,” Olson said.

Robert Clarke, 46, a former drug investigator for the U.S. Justice Department, “was very distraught” at the scene and during the emergency call to the Sheriff’s Department, Olson said.

Although Clarke was questioned by deputies, the shooting is being classified as accidental, Olson said. Clarke is not being considered a criminal suspect, he added, but the shooting remains under investigation.

When deputies arrived at the two-story home in the 27800 block of Via Estancia, they found the victim lying in a den suffering from a single gunshot wound, a sheriff’s spokesman said. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Sheriff’s deputies said the couple had been married about 11 years. Neighbors said the two had moved into the quiet neighborhood of large, Spanish-style homes two years ago.

Both the victim and her husband had previously been married. Robert Clarke had two sons from an earlier marriage.

One of those sons, Robbie, 13, was not at home at the time of the accidental shooting and was prevented from entering the house by sheriff’s deputies. He was staying with neighbors Sunday evening.

Frank Hatch, a next-door neighbor, said “everything seemed normal” with the Clarkes, who were depicted by Hatch and other neighbors as a friendly couple who never fought.

“You hear about these things; you read about them in the paper. You never think it’ll be so close to you,” said Hatch’s wife, Joan.

Yvonne Clarke had quit office work at the beginning of this year because of a neck problem. She had been writing short stories at home, Joan Hatch said.

Clarke’s husband, retired from the U.S. Justice Department, worked part time as a bartender and had just started his own private investigation business, according to neighbors.