Updated: 73-year-old arrested in connection with his wife's death

KENT COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A 70-year-old woman from Kent County is dead, and police say her husband killed her.

73-year-old Agostino Comella is behind bars in Kent County, charged with second degree murder.

Police say that on Friday, Comella says he found his wife, Ella, unconscious in their bed in Byron Township. Ella was treated for a head injury that was originally believed to be caused by a fall. The hospital also found that she had other bruises on her body, in various stages of healing.

Through interviews, police started investigating suspicions of domestic assault. Then, on Sunday, Ella died.

After an early morning autopsy on Monday, the Kent County Sheriff's Office put out an arrest warrant for Comella and came to his Byron Center home to pick him up.

Newschannel 3 spoke to those who knew the couple, and found almost everyone has strong opinions about who Agostino, or Gus Comella is.

“Gus was, like I said, a very particular guy, he was always trimming bushes, he always had special projects,” said Phillip Dicesare, a neighbor.

Dicesare says in the time he lived next to Comella, he never saw Comella show anything but respect for his wife.

“Seems to me that he always took care of his wife, she had a little problem mentally with Alzheimer's or whatever,” said Dicesare, “he would always make sure she had a chair to sit on, take care of her, help her up and down the hill.”

Newschannel 3 also went to the Comellas' old neighborhood in Byron Center, where they lived for decades. Neighbors there saw another side of the couple's relationship.

“He ran a very strict household, he was very finicky as to how things were kept around the house,” said former neighbor Susan Fennema. “A lot of that was his doing and she abided by what he wanted.”

Fennema and her husband said that Comella's level of control and a deep need for privacy led to a dangerous situation for his wife in the past.

“He was very hesitant to let emergency workers into his home to access his wife who was having a medical condition,” said Fennema.

Despite the eccentricities, the Fennemas and other neighbors told Newschannel 3 that the Comellas were a very sweet couple, and that they simply can't imagine that Agostino would murder his wife.

“I have a hard time believing that,” said Dicesara. “I just have a hard time believing that he would do that.”

Comella was arraigned Monday afternoon and is being held at the Kent County Jail on $500,000 bond.