Wife Held in Fatal Beating

Detectives on Wednesday arrested a Villa Park woman, accusing her of bludgeoning her husband to death during an argument at their home.

Marita Hooton, 36, called 911 about 11 p.m. Tuesday from the home. Police said Steve Hooton, 48, appears to have died during a fight with his wife, who suffered stab wounds during the altercation.

“She called saying her husband stabbed her and tried to kill her,” said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. “When police arrived, they found turned-over chairs, broken objects ... signs that a struggle had occurred.”

Deputies discovered the man’s body in the garage of the home in the 10100 block of Workman Circle, where police have been called before on domestic violence reports. Authorities would not say who had been the aggressor in those incidents. Hooton died from blunt force trauma to the head, Amormino said.

The woman had a knife wound to her thigh and bruises on her body, police said. She was treated at Chapman Medical Center in Orange, then went to a shelter Wednesday. She returned home to speak with police and was arrested and booked on murder charges. She is being held at the Central Women’s Jail in Santa Ana.