Husband Arraigned In Stabbing Murder Of His Wife In Santa Ana

SANTA ANA, CA — A Santa Ana probationer with a lengthy criminal history was charged Wednesday with fatally stabbing his companion, whose body was found Monday in an apartment known to police for drawing multiple complaints regarding narcotics and other disturbances.

Mark Lewis Amacher, 38, was charged with murder and a misdemeanor count of contempt of court. The contempt of court charge stems from Amacher's violating a court order to stay away from the 58-year-old victim, Carrie Lynn Becket, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney.

Amacher also faces a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.

Amacher and the victim were a couple, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. It wasn't clear if they were actually married, but they would tell others that they had been married for four years.

Amacher pleaded guilty Sept. 4, 2015, of beating the victim and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to participate in a batterers' treatment program, according to court records. On Dec. 28, 2015, he was sentenced to another 98 days in jail when his probation was revoked.

Amacher and the victim were transients who lived in the shelter near the Santa Ana Civic Center, Bertagna said.

Amacher had been released last Wednesday from jail, where he'd been held since being arrested July 31 for probation violations, according to court records.

Another man who was questioned about the murder on Monday was arrested on a felony burglary warrant, according to police. Braden Andrew Buck, who is being held without bail, is not believed to have participated in the killing, Bertagna said.

Buck called 911 about 3 a.m. Monday to report that the victim was "hurt and needed medical attention" at 215 S. Birch St., he said.

The apartment where the woman was found dead has drawn numerous calls for police service, according to Bertagna.

"We come to this location on a regular basis for narcotics and disturbance calls," he said.

It appears Amacher and the victim were staying there, perhaps as squatters, Bertagna said.

Court records show that Amacher was arrested in June and sent to jail for 10 days on a probation violation for failing to report to a probation officer and enroll in a drug treatment program. After he got out of custody, he twice failed to report to his probation officer in July, so a bench warrant was issued and he was picked up at the end of the month, according to court records.

According to a recent probation report, Amacher has a criminal history dating back to 1995 with arrests and convictions for receiving stolen property, larceny, grand theft, arson, burglary, petty theft, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, transporting drugs, theft of elderly, passing bad checks, battery on a spouse, corporal injury on a spouse, vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon.

On March 20, Amacher pleaded guilty to violating a stay-away order and assault, both misdemeanors, and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and placed on three years of probation.

On Aug. 7, he pleaded guilty to contempt of court for disobeying a court order in a domestic violence case and was sentenced then to 10 days in jail, according to court records.

Buck has a case pending involving two counts each of second-degree burglary and identity theft, and one count of fraudulent use of a credit card, stemming from alleged crimes that happened last October, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty May 31 and is due in court on Wednesday for a pretrial hearing.

City News Service,

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