VANCOUVER, WA (KPTV) -
A Vancouver woman used a hammer to kill her husband two weeks ago, but didn't call 911 until Wednesday, according to court documents.
Clark County deputies responded to 12216 NE 76th St. in the Orchards area just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after 51-year-old Donna Williams made the call.
They found the body of 55-year-old Mark Williams covered with bed sheets on a bed in the home. There were numerous red stains on the walls, and the bedding was stained with what appeared to be blood, police said in the court documents.
Mark Williams appeared to have been struck numerous times in the head with a blunt object, a sergeant said.
Donna Williams later admitted during an interview with detectives that she killed her husband by striking him in the head with a hammer multiple times, the court documents revealed.
Close friends said Donna Williams claimed she was abused by her husband in the past.
"She came over a few times, and she just acted like an abused person. She didn't want anyone to touch her or see her bruises," said close friend Barbara Bright.
Court documents echoed the statements of Williams' friends. In an interview with detectives, Donna Williams told them her husband of 30 years had become increasingly abusive toward her. On Mother's Day, she said, her husband had been using cocaine and punched her in the eye.
On the morning of May 14, the court documents said, Donna Williams woke up early and went to the garage to retrieve a hammer. She told detectives she returned to the bedroom and struck her sleeping husband in the head three to four times, according to the court documents.
She left the home and went to a convenience store, but when she returned, her husband was still alive, according to her statement to detectives. That's when she grabbed the hammer and struck her husband once more in the head, killing him, the court documents said.
"I just can't believe it. She is such a tiny woman," said close friend Amanda Bright. "It's shocking to me that she could do this. It doesn't seem like something she is capable of."
"She would come over crying lots saying, 'You just don't know, you just don't know what I have to put up with.' I just never thought it would come to this. I thought she would leave him first. I can't believe this has happened," Barbara Bright said.
Mark Williams' remains were taken to the Clark County Medical Examiner's Office to determine the exact time of the death and the official cause.
Donna Williams is being held in the Clark County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. Her bail was set at $750,000.
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