Officers interrupted an alleged carving knife attack after arriving at a home to hear an elderly woman calling out "help me", police have claimed.
"I'm going to cut out your tongue," the man is accused of telling his wife, among multiple kill threats.
Police also allege that days prior, the man beat his partner with an empty wine bottle.
The case of the 76-year-old man, who is not named to protect the alleged victim's identity, appeared before the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday.
The alleged offender was not present, with the court told he was residing in a mental health facility.
The most serious of the man's multiple family violence charges are an intentional act endangering life with the use of an offensive weapon, intentional wounding, and a reckless threat to kill.
Police documents previously tendered to the court outline multiple days of alleged offending, beginning on May 28, at the married couple's home.
The man is said to have become angry in the pair's kitchen when he found an empty wine bottle, allegedly using it to hit the woman on the head, shoulders and hands.
The woman, also aged in her late 70s, later told police this alleged attack lasted approximately five minutes.
"Because you're a lush and you're a piece of shit and the world is better off without you," the man allegedly responded when the woman asked him why he had hit her.
Two days later, police claim the woman was on the phone to a friend when her husband asked for them to go to the shops.
The woman said she could not go out in public "because she had fresh bruises to her face".
The man allegedly grabbed the phone and began hitting her with it, with the woman's friend hearing "a few loud sharp screams from the other end of the line".
Soon after, the man is accused of returning to the room holding a "carving knife".
"I am going to get rid of you. I'm going to kill you," the man allegedly said, pointing the knife.
The man is said to have attacked his wife, wounding her abdomen.
About this time, both the woman and the friend she had been on the phone with contacted police.
Officers arrived at the home soon after and announced themselves before hearing a voice repeating the words "help me" from inside the residence.
The alleged victim appeared to have sustained multiple injuries, including dark bruising to both eye sockets, and bruising and lacerations around her face and neck.
Police claim the women's left eye was almost swollen shut.
The matter is set to return to court later this month after Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker has considered a psychologist's report regarding the man's fitness to plead.
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Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
