Placentia Woman Arrested in Spouse’s Shooting Death

A 54-year-old woman who called police reporting that her husband was trying to assault her was arrested minutes later in connection with the shooting death of her spouse, police said Wednesday.

Police went to the home of Marilyn and Jack Hagen in the 600 block of Brunswick Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. They found Jack Hagen, 63, lying in a hallway near a bathroom, bleeding from five gunshot wounds to the jaw and upper body. He died a short time later at Placentia-Linda Community Hospital, Lt. Chuck Babcock said.

Marilyn Hagen was screaming when police arrived and had a bruise on her forehead that police believe was the result “of some sort of argument or altercation” before the shooting, said Corinne Loomis, a Police Department spokeswoman.

Detectives said they recovered Marilyn Hagen’s .22-caliber handgun, which police believe was used in the shooting.

Marilyn Hagen was uncooperative during interviews, Loomis said.

Placentia police said there is no record of disturbance calls to the Hagen home, which neighbors said they had been renting for about two weeks, or to their previous home, on North Elaine Drive in Santa Ana.

Marilyn Hagen worked at House of Imports in Buena Park, a car dealership.

Jack Hagen owned TJ’s Cocktails, a small Placentia sports bar in a strip mall on East Yorba Linda Boulevard.

Previously, he operated Sportsman Bar in Santa Ana.

In January, 1989, Jack Hagen was sued by a man alleging he broke his jaw and damaged three teeth in the bar. Jack Hagen claimed the man attacked him without provocation, and that he was protecting himself. Attorneys for the men could not be reached for comment on the status of the case.

Robert Boecking, 24, who knew the couple, said he saw them Friday in TJ’s Cocktails.

“They are very good people. I’m shocked,” he said, pausing from his job in a floral shop next to the bar.

“They never mentioned anything about problems,” Boecking said. “It all seemed very normal.”

Marilyn Hagen was scheduled for arraignment today in Municipal Court in Fullerton and was being held in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Loomis said the slaying illustrated an unusual category of homicide cases because a woman is suspected of killing a man.

“Across the board with types of homicide cases police departments work in general, this kind is small” in number, Loomis said.

In Orange County in 1991, nine women were arrested on suspicion of homicide compared to 105 men, state records show. The 1992 figures were not available.

Times staff writer Rene Lynch contributed to this report.