The Hollywood man charged with murdering his own mother used his brother's softball bat to bash her head in and told a friend he "just snapped" when he attacked her, according to an arrest affidavit released Thursday.
Jason Kertesz, 29, was in a Broward courtroom Thursday where he was ordered held without bond on a premeditated first-degree murder charge.
According to the affidavit, Irene Kertesz, 62, was was found dead inside her home in the 2400 block of Northwest 57th Way on July 30. Police say her husband, John Kertesz, found her unresponsive and bleeding from her head.
When police arrived, they found the bat in a bathtub and blood in the sink in Jason Kertesz's bathroom, according to the affidavit. A pair of his shorts with blood on them was also found.
There was obvious blunt trauma to Irene Kertesz's head and a doctor from the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office quickly ruled the death a homicide, the affidavit said. Irene Kertesz had been dead for several hours before she was found, police said.
According to the affidavit, John Kertesz told police he got a call from his son on his wife's cell phone earlier in the day asking him if he'd be home for dinner.
Finding it strange that his son would call and ask, John Kertesz asked his son where his wife was, and the younger Kertesz told him she was taking a nap, the affidavit said.
John Kertesz canceled his dinner plans and returned home, where he made the gruesome discovery.
Police say John Kertesz told them that his son had a drug problem and had stolen money and other items from the house and had even given one of their cars to a man he owed money to.
When John Kertesz and police searched the home, they realized Irene Kertesz's rental car was missing as were several credit cards and an ATM card, the affidavit said.
Surveillance video from an ATM machine at a gas station showed Jason Kertesz using his mother's card there to take out cash, the affidavit said.
A friend of Kertesz told police that Kertesz had picked him up the night of the murder in his mother's rental car and a pocket-full of money, according to the affidavit.
When the friend asked him why he killed his mother, Kertesz began crying and said "I just snapped," the affidavit said.
Kertesz was later arrested in Aventura after police tracked him down thanks to a CrimeStoppers tip.
