Husband charged with murder of wife jumped in front of Metro train before arrest: charging documents

A husband has been charged with murdering his wife after trying to take his own life by jumping in front of a Metro train, according to charging documents.

Officers responded to 2021 Amherst Road in Hyattsville around 11:32 a.m. on Sunday for the report of an unresponsive woman in the house.

The reporting person, Misty Michelle Olivett Hayden, said she found her mother dead in the house and believed her father had killed her and tried to set her on fire.

Officers located an adult female, later identified as Pauline Hayden, 60, suffering from trauma to the body, including burns, multiple stab wounds and a laceration to the throat. She was pronounced dead a short time later, court documents say.

The victim and her husband, Ernest Hayden, 64, lived at the home together. There were no signs of forced entry, and the door was locked when Misty arrived.

Suspected blood was located on all three floors of the home and in the driveway leading to the home's side door. Two butcher knives were in the sink with what appeared to be visible blood stains on them. A small pocketknife was also on the kitchen table with what seemed to be a blood stain.

Investigators located Ernest's phone on top of a bible inside the house.

Misty told investigators that Ernest and Pauline had been involved in constant heated domestic arguments leading them to sleep in separate bedrooms.

While searching for Ernest, it was discovered that he was a patient at George Washington University Hospital after attempting to take his own life by intentionally jumping in front of a train at the Foggy Bottom Metro Station.

Metro Transit Police received a radio transmission of a person struck by a train at the station around 8:30 a.m. The individual, later identified as Ernest, suffered from minor injuries to his lower leg.

Detectives met with Ernest at the hospital, read him his rights and he was transported to the Psychiatric Institute of Washington, D.C.