Ailing Son Held in Death of His Visiting Mother

A Van Nuys woman was bludgeoned to death in Manhattan with a hammer and a wooden statue by her AIDS-afflicted son, who then attempted suicide by setting himself on fire, police said Friday.

Leona Imbert, 63, had flown to New York to care for her 39-year-old son, Earl Imbert, an unemployed actor who worked as a word processor, said Sgt. Al King of the New York Police Department. She had told her Van Nuys neighbors she was planning to bring her son back to California because he had suffered a stroke and needed constant care, said Juanita Skaggs, who manages the building in the 15300 block of Gault Street where Leona Imbert had lived alone for eight years.

Police went to Earl Imbert’s apartment on E. 21st St. in Manhattan on Thursday after receiving a call from his brother in California, King said. The brother, whom police identified as Albert Imbert, had become alarmed about his mother’s safety after talking with Earl, King said.

When officers arrived, Earl Imbert answered the door wearing a charred, blood-spattered polo shirt and shorts, King said, and had open sores on his arms.

Officers found the body of his mother wrapped in a blanket. The woman had been beaten “almost beyond recognition” with a hammer and a small wooden carving, which police confiscated, King said. Police believe Leona Imbert was killed Thursday.

Officers also found two one-way tickets to Los Angeles in the man’s apartment. Earl Imbert told detectives he had killed his mother and then wrapped himself in a shower curtain and set himself on fire, King said. But he jumped into the shower after suffering second- and third-degree burns over 25% of his body.

“He told us all about it--gave himself up,” King said.

Imbert was arrested Thursday and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon--the hammer and the statue.

Albert Imbert, who could not be reached for comment, told officers his brother had AIDS and a history of psychological problems, said King, who described Earl Imbert as “a disturbed man.”

“He spoke to us in a flat monotone the whole time,” King said.

Imbert was taken to the burn unit at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, where he was in critical but stable condition late Friday, said Kathy Robinson, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

King said police do not know the motive for the slaying. Neighbors in Imbert’s building, where he has lived for several years, told officers they did not hear any unusual noises coming from the apartment. However, they said they believed the man had told his mother he had a brain tumor and concealed the fact that he had AIDS, King said.

The slaying prompted AIDS organizations in Los Angeles to point out that although people with the disease are more likely than the general population to commit suicide, they are not ordinarily any more violent.

“This is very unusual--there are people with AIDS who have dementia, but they are usually too physically disabled to commit violent crimes,” said Sally Jue, mental health program manager for AIDS Project Los Angeles.