Fall River man to face ‘disturbing’ charges in murder of his mother
A 56-year-old Fall River man accused of brutally murdering his frail mother and neglecting his two mentally disabled sisters — who cops found beaten and locked in the family home — will face “extremely disturbing” charges today, prosecutors say.
Antonio M. Branco was living with his mother, Maria Branco, in Fall River when she was admitted in April to nearby Saint Anne’s Hospital with wounds from neck to ankles, and her legs so severely contracted she couldn’t bend them, according to Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.
Hospital staff then notified an elder abuse watchdog, who called police, Quinn said. Maria Branco died April 13. It was while conducting a well-being check that police say they found Antonio Branco’s sisters locked in the family’s Holden Street house — the 56-year-old had been badly beaten and had “black, bloodied, swollen eyes,” while the 49-year-old had an injured hand, prosecutors said.
The older sister told police the beatings from her brother were frequent, prosecutors said.
Nick Cabral, Maria’s youngest brother, told the Herald: “She certainly didn’t deserve to die the way she did. She was a good person. She was a housewife. Her life was pretty much taking care of the family.”
Maria Branco spent most of her life in Sao Miguel, a Portuguese island, where she married and gave birth to her son, Cabral said. Maria Branco lost two other daughters when they were young.
“She had some hardships,” Cabral said, but “she was a loving person.”
Cabral, who declined to discuss the charges against Antonio Branco, said he is taking care of Maria Branco’s two daughters, who are safe and recovering.
Fall River police Chief Daniel Racine said in a statement the “particularly disturbing case, a senseless, horrible death … shook hardened homicide investigators. We should cherish our elders, not do this.”
Quinn called the allegations “extremely disturbing,” and said “elders have helped to make this country great and should be treated with respect and dignity.”
Antonio Branco will be arraigned today in Fall River Superior Court.
Judy Klein, chief operating officer of the Bristol Elder Care, which forwarded the case to police, said her organization investigated 3,081 reports of elder abuse in the year from July 1, 2015, to June 31, 2016.
“We hope to think that this day and age there aren’t all these terrible situations out there, but they remain,” Klein told the Herald. “If you used to see someone, but you don’t see them anymore, or you have a gut instinct that something is not right, we encourage people to file a report.”