Ex-Boyfriend Sought in Fatal Stabbing

A counselor for battered women was stabbed to death Tuesday and police believe the killer was an ex-boyfriend whom they let go after he violated a restraining order.

Police are investigating why Clarence C. Brown, 45, was merely cited Monday rather than being arrested, as police general orders require. They say he is now a suspect in the slaying of Marie Christian, 43, who worked at a San Francisco center for abused women.

Brown had beaten and threatened Christian in the past, investigators said. Neighbors found her in a pool of blood in her apartment hallway. Police Sgt. Gus Galindo said that when neighbors asked who had attacked her, Christian uttered Brown’s first name. She died less than an hour later.