Jailed Hollywood man Jason Kertesz admits stealing from mother, denies bludgeoning her to death

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Eight days after police said he bludgeoned his mother to death in her bedroom, Jason Kertesz made a collect call from jail to his Hollywood home. His older brother answered.

"Good afternoon," said Sean Kertesz, 38.

"Good afternoon to you too, sir!" the 29-year-old murder suspect said. "Now, let me answer the question before it's asked and say no, I did not f---ing do that s--- to my mother."

Both brothers had been notified that the conversation would be recorded. That didn't stop the younger man from admitting he stole their mother's car and credit cards on July 30, the day she was found slain, and drove around town withdrawing cash. He was arrested two days later in Aventura.

Jason Kertesz is charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery in the death of Irene Kertesz, 62, a mother of three who was a secretary at St. Lawrence Catholic School in North Miami Beach.

The Broward State Attorney's Office, responding to a public records request, released recordings of calls placed by Jason Kertesz from Aug. 4 through Aug. 22. Only seven of 50 calls he placed in that time period were answered. Five were to a female friend. Two were between Kertesz and his brother.

The phone at the Kertesz house has been disconnected. Attempts to locate Sean Kertesz, his father and his sister for an interview were unsuccessful. Jason Kertesz' lawyer, Utpal Dighe, could not be reached despite several messages over the past week. Prosecutors declined to comment.

The accused brother did most of the talking during the recorded calls, asking about his mother's funeral, pleading for money to buy hygiene supplies in jail, and insisting he found out his mother had been killed only after his arrest, when police told him.

"I don't know what happened that day, Sean, when I left," he said. "But if there's any way, shape or form that I can assist in this … then I will."

"Well, you'd better," said Sean, who did not openly accuse his brother of committing the murder but refused to give him money until his name is cleared. "Jason, I'm not prepared to do anything for you until this part of it is resolved," he said.

Investigators believe Irene Kertesz was struck in the head with a blunt object, likely the baseball bat that was found in the house afterward. The victim was also stabbed in the head and neck, although the stab wounds were not fatal, according to the autopsy.

The body was discovered by husband John Kertesz, who told detectives he was out most of the day on July 30 and last spoke to his wife at 2 p.m. When he tried to call her cell phone later, Jason answered. At one point Jason said his mother was sleeping, according to a police report.

When John Kertesz returned home at about 7:30 p.m., his wife's rental car was gone, and it looked as if someone had rifled through drawers. Then he found the body.

Sean Kertesz reminded his brother of the thefts during their first phone call.

"You wound up with her cellphone and her car and all of her credit cards and you called all of them to check the limits and pull money off of them," he said.

The defendant admitted to stealing the credit cards from his mother's wallet, kept under her mattress, while she was outside having a cigarette.

But he insisted he was innocent of the murder. "I really, really hope that you believe me," he said.

"I'm trying," the older brother answered.

John and Jason Kertesz did not speak on the phone after the arrest.

Jason Kertesz did not ask to speak to his father either time he called the house, and his brother never offered to put the widower on the line.