NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- Police have arrested a man after his elderly wife was found dead inside her home, Tuesday morning.
Norfolk fire Battalion Chief Harry Worley said firefighters responded to a structure fire just after 10 a.m.
When firefighters got inside, they didn't have to put out much of a fire, according to Worley. The fire was contained to an elderly woman, and the chair she was sitting in.
The woman, 61-year-old Kathleen White-Grangruth was pronounced dead at the scene.
As a result of the investigation, 58-year-old Delano Grangruth has been charged with second-degree murder and burning or destroying a dwelling house, the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney's office said.
"All those questions are going in my head, and I could only imagine having to pass that way," said neighbor Kim Garton. "It just hurts."
Garton said the elderly woman was wheelchair bound and said she saw caretakers arrive at the home every day. Garton said the woman lived there with her husband.
"She's my neighbor," said Garton. "You know, I feel just hurtful the way it had to... the way it happened."
"It is sad," said neighbor Tiffany Simmons. "You live a whole life to just, you know, have something like this happen so suddenly."
Carl Spainhour lives next-door to the military veteran couple.
"They were just pleasant people to talk to." Spainhour said, "He [Grangruth] was a pretty tempered fellow, but I'd never known him to be violent as far as I could see."
Delano was arraigned Wednesday morning. His preliminary hearing is set for July 18.
Delano is currently being held at Norfolk City Jail without bond.
Court records show this isn't the first time Grangruth appeared in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
In a couple of court documents, Kathleen claimed that her husband assaulted her and "threatened to burn the house down if she called the police."
Although documents show she said it happened in 2013, officers arrested him two-years after that.
Grangruth went to court, but documents show a judge later dismissed the case because of insufficient evidence.
Norfolk Homicide Detectives are investigating in conjunction with the Norfolk Fire Marshall. No other details have been released at this time, including what may have sparked the fire.
PHOTOS: Elderly woman dies in house fire in Norfolk
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