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80-Year-Old Man Killed by Wife in Staten Island, Police Say

By Nicholas Rizzi | October 9, 2014 8:52am
 Frank Baldassare, 80, was killed by his wife, police said. He was found dead with head trauma by firefighters responding to a garage fire in Baldassare's Staten Island home.
Frank Baldassare, 80, was killed by his wife, police said. He was found dead with head trauma by firefighters responding to a garage fire in Baldassare's Staten Island home.
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TOMPKINSVILLE — An 80-year-old man was killed by his wife and discovered Wednesday by firefighters responding to a garage fire in his Tompkinsville home, police said.

Frank Baldassare was found with head trauma around noon in a first-floor bathtub after firefighters put out the fire at 405 Victory Blvd., police said.

His wife, Antionetta Baldassare, 67, was taken to Richmond University Medical Center for smoke inhalation and was arrested and charged with murder, arson and criminal possession of a weapon on Thursday, police said. She is listed in stable condition.

Police could not say what prompted the slaying, but the New York Post reported Antionetta Baldassare told police that she was “sick and tired” of her husband abusing her.

The paper reported that she bound herself with duct tape and set fire to their home after the murder.

The fire marshal is working to pinpoint the cause of the blaze and the medical examiner will determine an exact cause of Frank Baldassare's death, police said.