2 Officers’ Handling of Fatal Domestic Dispute Questioned : Police: Investigation centers on why the patrolmen left a Tujunga apartment without checking on the husband, who was later killed.

Two Los Angeles police officers are being questioned about the way they handled a domestic dispute in the San Fernando Valley that ended when a husband was fatally bludgeoned about an hour after they left, police officials said Tuesday.

At issue is why the officers left a Tujunga apartment building early Sunday without checking on Thomas Chapman, 52, the apparent victim of repeated beatings by his 46-year-old wife, Michele, and the subject of an earlier visit by paramedics and his concerned brother, authorities said.

Capt. Tim McBride, commanding officer of the Police Department’s Foothill Division, where the incident took place, acknowledged Tuesday that the standard procedure in domestic disputes is for police to interview both parties and check for any injuries. “Obviously, it’s preferable to meet and talk to both people,” McBride said.

But, he added that “it was a busier than average night” and that the officers in question had received a series of six calls close together.

“We need to know what happened and why and will take appropriate action once we have learned,” said Cmdr. Chet Spencer of the Valley Bureau.

Spencer said he expected a written report within a week. He said that police officials will review the incident but that the officers are not the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation. The officers, whose names were withheld Tuesday, will remain on active field duty, Spencer said.

Each officer has about 2 1/2 years experience with the department, according to McBride.

The review, which is being conducted within the division, will include studying tapes of the 911 emergency calls that Michele Chapman made before and after her husband’s death, McBride said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Myron Jenkins, who charged Michele Chapman with murder on Tuesday, described the case as a classic domestic-violence situation except that it was the husband who was the passive victim.

Neighbors at the couple’s apartment building in the 10000 block of Somoa Avenue said the Chapmans were known for heavy drinking and loud fights. They also said Michele Chapman appeared to resent her husband, who told neighbors he was a Vietnam veteran.

One tenant said Michele Chapman made it clear that her husband was in mortal danger when she called the police to their apartment about 2 a.m. Sunday.

“We heard her on the phone saying, ‘Come get him and take him away before I kill him,’ ” said Tracy Taylor, who lives directly beneath the Chapmans in the two-story apartment house.

When Chapman spoke briefly with police outside the building, she asked them to take her to the County Jail, Taylor said.

“She said, ‘I need to get away from him, I’m going to hurt him,’ ” Taylor said.

Jenkins said the police urged Chapman to spend the night with a neighbor instead of returning to her own apartment, and left in the apparent belief that the situation was under control.

An hour later, paramedics summoned to the apartment for the second time in a day pronounced Thomas Chapman dead. Jenkins said Michele Chapman told them: “I hit him and kicked him and hope he is dead.”

About nine hours earlier, paramedics stitched a head wound on Thomas Chapman after Michele phoned his mother and his brother went to check on him, Jenkins and other sources said.

But Chapman refused to accompany his brother to a doctor. He also denied that his wife was responsible for the cut above an eye, insisting that he received the injury in a fall, Jenkins said.

Michele Chapman appeared in San Fernando Municipal Court on Tuesday but did not enter a plea. Her arraignment was continued until Tuesday.