KEARNS — A woman is accused in the death of her husband after a coroner determined the man did not die from a medical conditions, but rather was injured in an assault.

Veronica Vizcarra, 30, of Kearns, was arrested Monday for investigation of murder.

On March 11, Unified police detectives were called to a report of an unconscious man at 4803 S. Townsend Way (5245 West). Carlos Vizcarra-Corona, 33, was pronounced dead shortly after emergency crews arrived.

Vizcarra told detectives that her husband “has a serious alcohol problem and takes too much Tylenol. (He) had been in the hospital for the alcohol abuse about four months ago. There were healing bruises found on (his) chest, back and face,” according to a police affidavit.

Vizcarra told investigators that her husband’s injuries were the result of a fight he had at work two weeks earlier, the affidavit states.

“We continued the investigation as it appeared alcohol related,” police wrote in their affidavit.

But on March 12, the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office determined that while “(Vizcarra-Corona) did have some serious medical issues due to alcohol use ... his cause of death was blunt force trauma with a ruptured spleen and would be ruled a homicide. The injury was in a stage of healing but was unable to heal due to the extensive damage,” the affidavit states.

After conducting more interviews, detectives learned Vizcarra-Corona never had a fight at work, but he did have fights with his wife on Feb. 27 and again on March 11 in which she allegedly beat him “with a staple gun and or nail gun,” according to the affidavit.

In October, Vizcarra entered a plea in abeyance, pleading guilty to a charge of assault for beating up another woman, according to court records. On the day she entered her plea, however, prosecutors say she also intimidated her victim outside the courtroom at the Matheson Courthouse. Because of that, Vizcarra was charged in November with retaliation against a witness, a third-degree felony. Her next court hearing in that case was scheduled for April 25.

Vizcarra was also charged in January in Salt Lake Justice Court with criminal mischief, child abuse and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of children. In that case, Vizcarra-Corona reported to police that his wife “was drinking alcohol and threw glass cups at him and his 11-year-old daughter,” according to a police affidavit.