LOS ANGELES (CBS)  — A 96-year-old man accused of killing his 80-year-old wife pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a murder charge.

Milton Weiss — whose 97 birthday is Saturday — is charged with killing his wife of 40 years either last Friday or Saturday.

Anne Weiss was found dead about 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the couple’s apartment in the 3100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard. She died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to a coroner’s spokesman.

Her husband, who friends and neighbors indicated may be suffering from dementia, was arrested late Saturday by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division and jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

He was arraigned at the Airport Branch Courthouse and will make his next court appearance at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 1, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.

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