70-year-old Burbank man arrested on suspicion of killing wife [Updated]

A 70-year-old man remains in custody after his wife was pronounced dead Tuesday at their home on the 800 block of North Valley Street.

Joseph Robert Brancato was arrested at 3:20 a.m. Tuesday, about an hour after his wife, 64-year-old Marie Brancato, was pronounced dead at their home, and is being held in lieu of $1-million bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The cause of her death remained under investigation Wednesday, Los Angeles County coroner Ed Winter said. [Updated 4:55 p.m.: Burbank police issued a statement detailing how officers reported Marie Brancato was bleeding profusely from what appeared to be “a traumatic injury” to the back of her head.]

If confirmed, it would be the first homicide in Burbank since 2009, police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.

Joseph Brancato was arrested in January 2010 for allegedly hitting his wife on the head, according to Burbank police booking report.

-- Maria Hsin