2 Slaying Victims Identified; Wife Held in One Case

Police on Tuesday identified the victims of two separate weekend slayings that occurred within a few hours of each other.

The first victim, Jesus Cabrera, 45, of La Habra, was found lying at the corner of Florence Avenue and Florence Court about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Paramedics took him to Friendly Hills Medical Center, where he died. Investigators said that Cabrera was dumped on the street with a gunshot wound in his torso and that he may have been robbed.

Police have not made any arrests in the case and are trying to determine a motive for Cabrera’s killing, Police Capt. John Rees said.

In the second homicide case, Stephen H. Patterson, 36, was shot twice inside his home in the 500 block of Palermo Way by his wife, police said. Police arrested Marta Charlene Patterson, 41, shortly after the 9:30 a.m. Sunday shooting.

Marta Patterson was being held in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana in lieu of $250,000 bail. She was scheduled to face a murder charge today in North Municipal Court in Fullerton, police said.

Investigators said the woman shot her husband, a plumber, with her .38-caliber revolver. He was discovered dead in the dining room.

Rees said investigators are trying to determine what led to the shooting. Marta Patterson is the mother of two teen-age daughters from a previous marriage, but neither one was at home at the time of the shooting, police said. Neighbors called police Sunday morning after hearing gunshots, officials said.