A man who founded a Muslim American television station to help fight Muslim stereotypes is to appear on Wednesday in a suburban Buffalo court on charges that he decapitated his wife last week.

The man, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, went to a police station in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Thursday to report that his wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, was dead, Chief Andrew Benz said on Tuesday. Mr. Hassan told the police that her body could be found in the nearby office of the television station, Bridges TV. The police later arrested him on charges of second-degree murder, Chief Benz said.

On Feb. 6, Ms. Hassan, 37, filed for divorce and obtained an order of protection against Mr. Hassan, Chief Benz said.

It was unclear on Tuesday night whether Mr. Hassan had legal representation.

The news of the killing stunned Buffalo, a city already overwhelmed with emotion by the commuter plane crash that killed 50 people in the hamlet of Clarence Center on Thursday.