"Shield" star, Wife was Fighting over Money before Shooting

Dead-broke actor Michael Jace and his wife were in a furious fight over money before he gunned her down in front of their kids in their Los Angeles pad, it was revealed Tuesday.

The star of "The Shield" had filed for bankruptcy in March 2011 in a desperate bid to straighten out his tangled finances, but still owed about $411,000 on the home, which was underwater and facing a foreclosure sale.
The Paterson, NJ-born actor was also delinquent on tax payments — and his money woes put a heavy strain on his marriage.

And he also had a history of horrific domestic violence, choking and slamming a previous wife against a wall in front of their infant child, according to TMZ.

Jace, 51, called cops Monday, admitting he had shot wife April Jace, 40. When cops got to their Hyde Park home about 8:30 p.m., she was already dead.

TMZ reported that both kids witnessed their dad pull the trigger, before he called 911 to say, "I shot my wife," and then meekly remained on the line with the dispatcher until cops arrived.

"They [the children] were not physically hurt, but obviously their emotions are running high," LAPD Detective Sal LaBarbera told KTLA-TV.

"Two young children that lost their mom and now their dad is in jail, most likely will be in prison for this."

The couple had been married for nine years and had just returned home from their young sons’ baseball practice, police said.

The boys, both under 10, were taken to their grandparents after the shooting.

Cops took Jace away in handcuffs and he is being held on $1 million bail.

Jace played police officer Julien Lowe in "The Shield" from 2002 to 2008.

His character was a devout Christian, whose faith was often at odds with his own homosexuality and the less-than-moral behavior of some of his fellow officers.

He also has credits for the TV cop show "Southland" and in the movies "Planet of the Apes," "Boogie Nights" and "Forrest Gump."
There had been no previous domestic violence calls to the house, cops said. There’s no record of any previous criminal cases involving Jace.

But according to legal papers from his 2002 divorce from Jennifer Bitterman, Jace was a serial abuser.

A friend of Bitterman’s claimed she witnessed Jace choking and slamming his then-spouse against a wall as his 6-month-old son wailed in his crib, TMZ said.

The friend said "seeing the extent of his anger was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen," and that there were multiple, rage-fueled assaults.

The actor’s financial problems apparently stemmed from the housing crash.

When he filed for bankruptcy protection, he listed debts between $500,000 and $1 million, according to court records. The actor claimed his home was worth less than he owed on it.

Jace agreed to a repayment plan under terms of the bankruptcy, but had already fallen $2,000 behind by last November.

He owed $22,000 in state and federal income taxes, the actor said in court filings.

In a statement of assets, the suspect checked off a box indicating that he didn’t own any guns.

April Jace was a financial aid employee at Biola University, where co-workers at the La Miranda campus were in mourning over her murder.

In a statement Tuesday, Biola President Barry Corey said the school was "obviously shocked and saddened by this terrible news, to lose a wonderful colleague, mother and friend."

A bankruptcy document said she was a Los Angeles public school teacher prior to working for the Christian college.

Along with her two sons with Jace, April had an older son from a previous relationship. She graduated from both Hawthorne High School and Cal State Fullerton.
  Thanx:  Modal Trigger