A man who who police said killed his wife in their Talmadge apartment last week has had run-ins with the law in the past -- on both sides of the fence.
Brenda Martin-Taylor, 58, was found in the couple's home on 47th Street, shortly after her husband, 63-year old Thomas Taylor, was arrested.
In 1991, Taylor was honored by San Diego police for aiding an elderly woman who was being robbed in North Park, according to the San Diego Tribune, which said he was chased down the robber and was one of four people who helped the woman.
Family members told the paper that Taylor is a Vietnam veteran who served a prison sentence in the 1970s and 1980s for a murder in Illinois. After being paroled in connection to that slaying, he was arrested in 1984 in San Diego on a warrant for the stabbing death of a Chicago man, according to the Union-Tribune.
Martin died of multiple blunt-impact injuries to her head, according to the medical examiner's office.
"Officers arrived to find the second-story windows of an apartment completely shattered, with a number of personal items strewn on the ground below," San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney said.
Taylor then walked out of the residence, approached the officers with clenched fists and made some unintelligible comments, Rooney said Thursday.
"The suspect ignored their commands to stop and continued towards them," the lieutenant said. "In quick succession, pepper spray, beanbag-shotgun rounds, a Taser and physical force were used to subdue the suspect."
After restraining Taylor, officers went into the apartment and found Martin-Taylor's body. He was later taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery for injuries he suffered during his arrest, police said.
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Taylor is being held without bail. He is due in court Monday on a charge of first-degree murder.
