Son busted in ma's barbell slay
Monday, July 30th 2007, 4:00 AM
The body of Maria Fischman is taken from home.
A troubled Queens man used a barbell to bludgeon his 61-year-old mother to death, cops and neighbors said yesterday.
Michael Anthony, 26, was charged with murder after Maria Fischman was found dead late Saturday in the flat they shared in Fresh Meadows, police said.
The woman's husband, Fred Fischman, carried a barbell downstairs after the attack, telling neighbors, "I wanted to have him committed but she didn't want to," witnesses said.
Joan Nigri, a neighbor in the 2,300-unit Electchester housing complex set up by electric union workers, said the family "kept mostly to themselves."
"They were very quiet people," she said.
Cops said Anthony first struck his mother in the head about 11:15 p.m. Nigri, who lives directly below Fischman's sixth-floor apartment, recalled hearing repeated thuds that sounded "like bodies being thrown around."
Moments later, Fred Fischman was in the stairwell, clutching a barbell, Nigri said.
"I hope she's not dead," he said, according to Nigri.
There were no previous reports of domestic violence in the household and Anthony has no criminal history, cops said.
Nigri said she was surprised at how placid Anthony appeared as cops led him away in handcuffs.
"He seemed very calm," Nigri said.
