Woman Was Slain After Police Took Abuse Complaint

A Long Beach man booked for murder after police found his wife’s body in a closet at their home, apparently killed her shortly after she complained to police two weeks ago that he was physically abusing her, police alleged Monday.

James Marvin White, 32, was in jail on the spousal abuse allegation when authorities found the body of his wife, Betty Sanders, 28.

Sanders was apparently strangled early Jan. 13, shortly after two officers arrived at the couple’s home to take a report of spousal abuse, police said. White, was not at the home when the officers were there, investigators said.

The officers who took the report found White shortly after midnight on Friday and arrested him on suspicion of spousal abuse. The officers were carrying his picture with them and saw him during a routine patrol outside the duplex the couple rented one block from Long Beach police headquarters.

“It was good work on the part of the patrol officers,” said homicide Detective Craig Remine.

Officers did not find Sanders’ body until they went to the home on Saturday. Anxious relatives had called police because they had not heard from the woman in two weeks, Remine said.

When police found Sanders’ body, White was booked for murder.

Had White been at the home when officers took Sanders’ complaint, police would have arrested him, Remine said.

As Sanders’ body decomposed in the closet before authorities found it, her three young children, who were being cared for by a friend, regularly stopped by their home, police said.

“They were in and out of the house,” Remine said. He said relatives who live in the East are coming to Long Beach to take custody of the children.

Marie Webb, director of the YMCA WomenShelter in Long Beach, said she could not judge whether the officers acted appropriately in the case. What happens after a spousal abuse report is filed is often left to the officers’ discretion, she said.

“Probably, it’s not unusual how they responded,” Webb said. She said that if Sanders had no marks indicating injury, and White was not at home, police “don’t go looking for him unless there’s a warrant out for his arrest. But they certainly should have told her about getting a restraining order or given her a hot line number.”

Remine said that when officers first saw the woman on Jan. 12, she had “some slight trauma” that did not require medical attention. He said he could not say whether she was advised to seek a restraining order.

Remine also could not say what had been done on the original spousal abuse complaint. Detectives from the department’s violent crimes detail declined to comment.