A retired New Jersey butcher who bludgeoned his elderly wife to death and put her on ice left a ghoulish note for his two sons – “Mom’s in the freezer,” an investigator said yesterday.
Lyndhurst, N.J., cops found the body of Esther Rosa, 70, under piles of meat in the basement freezer – which they had searched only two days before.
Her 75-year-old husband, Salvatore – who was found sitting in a bloody bathtub with self-inflicted knife wounds – was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
“This is an unfortunate tragedy,” Lyndhurst Police Chief James O’Connor said. “Our prayers are with the family.”
The bizarre episode began Friday after the couple, described by neighbors as affluent and eccentric, got into a heated argument at their Willow Avenue home.
The bickering was triggered by a phone call from the couple’s former daughter-in-law, who was upset her ex-husband had remarried, a source close to the case told The Post.
After the argument, Salvatore Rosa bashed his diminutive wife of 52 years with a crowbar, then carried her body to the basement and hid it in the large, industrial-type freezer, officials said.
The next day, the retired butcher and his son Richard Rosa called police and reported the 5-foot-1 Esther Rosa missing.
Cops searched the white brick-and-shingle house. They even opened and examined the freezer, but missed the corpse.
“There were frozen items, including frozen meat, on top of the body,” Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor John Santulli said. “It would not obviously be seen.”
That night, the Rosas’ other son, James, arrived from Texas after a phone call from his brother.
Police – who believed the globetrotting Esther Rosa might have taken a spur-of-the-moment trip – searched the home again on Sunday, but didn’t check the freezer, authorities said.
As time passed, her husband’s conscience apparently got to him.
Early on Monday, he casually mentioned to James that “your mother is in the freezer,” a source close to the case said.
The son probably didn’t take the remark seriously because he left the house and went for a walk, the source said.
A short time later, his brother, Richard, found the note from his father, telling him where he could find his dead mother, the source said.
Richard then found his underwear-clad father in the bathroom, bleeding in the tub from neck and wrist wounds.
“It appeared to be a serious suicide attempt,” said Bergen County Prosecutor William Schmidt.
Police who were called to the scene at 9 a.m. had to use pepper spray to subdue the elderly man, who allegedly threatened them with a utility knife.
He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition last night.
The note he scribbled for his sons led police back to the freezer, where they found Esther Rosa’s fully clothed body under the meat and a plastic garbage bag.
“The body has to actually thaw out before an autopsy can be completed,” Santulli said.
Salvatore Rosa, held on $2 million bail, is charged with first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The Rosas’ sons refused to comment on the case yesterday, but neighbors and friends were stunned by the violence.
At Angelo’s Ristorante, a waiter said the couple were “nutty but nice, nice people.”
The Rosas – who owned several buildings in town – were “wealthy,” but they lived in a modest home, dressed down and drove inexpensive cars, he said.
“They’re oddballs, but I never detected any psychosis,” said the waiter, who didn’t want to be identified. “They just seemed like they belonged together.”