The victim, named locally as Frances Hubbard, 81, was found with fatal stab wounds at her sheltered housing bungalow yesterday morning.
She shared her home in the rural village of Brooke, in Norfolk, with husband Michael, 81.
Emergency services were called to the house around 10.30am on Sunday following reports a woman had been stabbed.
An air ambulance was scrambled to the scene and landed in a nearby sugar beet field but the pensioner was declared dead at the scene.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and was last night being detained at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where he is undergoing treatment.
Cops revealed the man and woman were known to each other but said there is no "wider threat" to the public.
Stunned locals have expressed their shock at the horror.
One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had known the victim for years and that she was a "lovely lady".
He said: "I knew her for years. She was a lovely lady. She would speak to me and ask me how I was. I don't know if she had any family or anything.
"They are both elderly. They have lived there quite a few years. I have been here 18 years and they came here a few years after I did.
"My carer was here for the time I heard the helicopter and she couldn't get out on account of the police cars."
He added: "It is a quiet area. It is sheltered housing you see, people in their 60s and disabled people live here.
"Nothing like this has ever happened. It is a very close community, we have got the common room which you meet people and go around to coffee mornings and that sort of thing."
Richard Wood, 72, who lives nearby, said the incident was shocking.
"He said: "That is a shocking thing to happen. It's a quiet place, we are all in sheltered housing.
"I have probably spoken to them when they taken the dog out and I've been walking mine. Never has anything happened like this in Brooke before."
The bungalow lived in by the elderly couple is owned by the Saffron Housing Trust and is warden controlled.
It is one of 41 properties on the quiet cul-de-sac which are occupied by the elderly, many of whom are disabled.
Forensic officers arrived at the home yesterday afternoon and began scouring the scene for clues over Mrs Hubbard's death.
They remain at the scene this morning as they continue to investigate the circumstances of how she died.
A Norfolk Police spokesman said: "A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with an incident that occurred in Brooke.
"Officers were called to a property on Churchill Place at around 10.30am following reports that a woman had been stabbed. On arrival, they discovered the body of a woman, who was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
"A man in his 80s has been arrested in connection with the incident and detained at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
"He will later be taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning."
Chris Burgess, Detective Inspector for Norfolk Police, said: "Clearly we are still in the early stages of our investigation and our enquiries remain ongoing.
"However, it appears that the suspect and the victim were known to each other and we do not believe there to be any threat to the wider public."
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.
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