LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A Lowell man has been ordered held without bail after authorities say he intentionally set his wife on fire in their home late Wednesday night.
Santos Lebron De Los Santo, 42, was arraigned Friday in Lowell District Court on a charge of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Lowell Police Superintendent Kelly Richardson announced.
A judge ordered him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on April 12.
Officers responding to a 911 call from a passerby reporting a fire she could see inside a house on Varnum Avenue around 10:40 p.m. Wednesday found a woman outside with serious burns to most of her body, Ryan and Richardson said.
“Her husband had gone into the bathroom, where the victim was, with a gas can in one hand and a lighter in the other hand, doused her with gasoline and lit her on fire,” prosecutor Suzanne Wiseman told the court.
She was transported to Lowell General Hospital before being taken to a Boston-area hospital, where she is in critical condition.
Wiseman said this was the end result of years of abuse.
“It was determined that there is a history of abuse in this relationship going back several years,” she said. “It included incidents of punching as well as intentionally burning the victim with an iron.”
An investigation remains ongoing.
No additional information has been released.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)