Husband Questioned in Wife’s Slaying

A 77-year-old LAPD retiree who says he accidentally shot his wife to death while waving a gun to frighten off a pair of suspicious men was released to his family Monday morning after a long night of questioning by homicide detectives, police said.

John D. MacWillie was “distraught and a little bit confused” during a marathon night of questioning by detectives intent on determining whether Phyllis J. MacWillie, 67, was killed Sunday evening in a tragic mishap or something else, according to Huntington Beach Police Lt. Dan Johnson.

For MacWillie, a onetime Los Angeles Police Department officer and the father of two police officers, it may have been the instincts of a cop that sent him reaching for the handgun beneath the driver’s seat in his car. “He thought he was in trouble, that’s the only reason he would have done it,” said his brother, Ron.

The couple, married for 47 years, were on their way Sunday evening to their local Ralphs supermarket when, according to MacWillie’s statement to police, two men in a black Chevrolet pulled up alongside them on Warner Avenue and began to glower at them.

“Something scared him about those men,” Johnson said. “I guess he assumed they were going to attack him.”

MacWillie reached beneath his seat to pull out his handgun--he hoped to scare off the men, he later told detectives--which then fired, hitting his wife in the head. As she slumped in her seat and began bleeding profusely, the onetime officer drove another block and pulled into a video store parking lot where he told the clerk to call 911.

“I asked him why, and he said, ‘The lady has been shot,’ ” said Tri Nguyen, the Video USA employee who phoned for help. “I could see her in the car outside with her head down. He seemed calm, but also nervous and scared. . . . He was shaking a little.”

The MacWillies, parents of four sons, have lived on Tyndall Drive in Huntington Beach for more than 30 years, but no one answered the door on Monday. Neighbors described the couple as gregarious and outgoing, exercising several times a week at a fitness center and always attending Fourth of July and Christmas block parties.

“They’ve been just great neighbors, and we’ve never heard of any conflict at all between them,” said Betty Tiehen, a Tyndall resident for 34 years. “This whole thing is unbelievable. I keep thinking it’s a nightmare and we’re going to wake up.”

Walsh Tiehen, retired from the Coast Guard, said he often swapped “old war stories” with MacWillie about their past careers in uniform. MacWillie looked like a former cop, with his crew cut and muscular build, but the Tiehens said their neighbor was low key about his law enforcement background.

“He never mentioned the gun,” Walsh Tiehen said. “He is a very reserved, very calm guy.”

MacWillie, a Los Angeles native, retired from the LAPD about three decades ago, according to LAPD Sgt. Stephany Payne. His son, Matthew, is a sergeant with the department and is assigned to the Southwest Division, Payne said.

A family friend, who spoke on condition that she not be identified, described the elder MacWillie as “a law-and-order type,” who is “very strong in his beliefs.”

Ron MacWillie, one of John’s brothers and an Arizona resident, said the shooting accident speaks of the violence and fear in Southern California.

“There are so many undesirables, so many criminals,” he said. “That’s why I left. You need a gun out there.”

He also said the shooting was “clearly” an accident. He added that the couple were close, enjoying “boating, hunting, fishing and all the things a man and woman who love each other do together.”

Huntington Beach detectives plan today to further interview the couple’s friends and family to gather information about their relationship, and they will speak again with MacWillie. Already, investigators have searched the couple’s home.

“They’ll want to interview him again and make a comparison between his story and autopsy results and the physical evidence collected at the crime scene, the car,” Johnson said.

As a retired officer in good standing, MacWillie can legally carry a concealed weapon, Johnson said. The weapon was recovered from the MacWillies’ car, a white 1995 Chevrolet Baretta, but Johnson declined to identify the type of handgun or whether it had a safety.

Police were not able to locate the men in the black car. No witnesses to the shooting have been found, and police asked anyone who may have seen the incident to call investigators at (714) 960-8811.