“The Shield” actor Michael Jace once threatened to kill his first wife
if she “went to war” over visitation rights for their son, according to
reports.
Jace’s simmering penchant for violence — which exploded in deadly
gunfire in Los Angeles Monday night when he allegedly shot his current
wife, April — was laid out in court records generated during a bitter
divorce from his first wife, Jennifer Bitterman.
But Jace’s doomed wife testified more than a decade ago that her
then-fiancé was a good provider for Jordan and called Bitterman a bad
mother. At the time, she relayed the boy’s chilling concerns for his
mom.
“Usually at bedtime, (Jordan) prays for his mom and asks God to protect
her while he’s not there with her,” she told the Los Angeles divorce
court,
according to the records obtained by TMZ.com.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Jace threatened to kill Bitterman if she fought for visitation rights.
April bore the brunt of Jace’s fury about 8:30 p.m. Monday. About 15
minutes after she returned home with their two sons from baseball
practice, Jace allegedly shot her multiple times. They had argued over
money, police said.
A friend of his ex told the court an out-of-control Jace, best known
for playing a sexually conflicted cop on the long-running FX series,
choked his wife and slammed her against a wall as then-6-month-old
Jordan screamed in his nearby crib.
“Seeing the extent of his anger was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen,” she said, according to court records.
20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Jace reportedly confessed to the murder after making a damning 911 call
for help. “I shot my wife,” he reportedly told the operator,
according to TMZ.com.
Jace stayed on the line and was standing in the doorway when cops
arrived and found his 40-year-old wife’s body sprawled in a hallway.
While Jace was hauled off to jail, the couples’ two young sons — both of
whom are under 10 — were turned over to their maternal grandmother.
The suspected killer was booked on suspicion of homicide and ordered
held on $1 million bail. It’s not clear he’ll be able to raise the
money. The Paterson, N.J.-born actor filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and
listed debts of $500,000 to $1 million — most of it owed on his home in
the Hyde Park section, The Associated Press reported.
Jace also owed more than $22,000 in income taxes, and still owed the
state of California more than $20,000 in back taxes for 2008. As part of
the bankruptcy, Jace agreed to a repayment plan, but by last November
he had already fallen $2,000 behind, according to the AP.
Jace and his wife were married for 10 years and her Facebook page has pictures of the couple in happier days.
April worked in the financial aid office at Biola University, a private
Christian college in L.A. She also had a grown son from an earlier
relationship
