Son Charged In Berwyn Woman's Strangulation
CHICAGO (STMW) - Murder charges have been filed in the early-Tuesday strangulation death of a 90-year-old Berwyn woman at her west suburban home.
Joseph Kestian, 58, of the 3300 block of Clarence Avenue in Berwyn, was charged Wednesday with one count of first-degree murder, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said. Kestian is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Thursday morning at the Maywood Courthouse at 1500 S. Maybrook Dr. in Maywood.
Kestian is accused of murdering 90-year-old Josephine Kestian.
Police found Josephine Kestian strangled in her home in the 3300 block of Clarence Avenue about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Minutes earlier, someone placed a 911 call for an unresponsive female at that address, Berwyn police said.
Later Tuesday, the medical examiner's office had sealed the front door of the stucco bungalow where neighbors said they could often hear Kestian and her son yelling at each other.
Kestian used to work as a waitress at two Berwyn restaurants and wouldn't "take crap'' from anyone, including her late husband, next door neighbor Robert Sinder said.
Sinder, a former custodian at the adjacent St. Leonard Catholic Church, said he often heard mother and son arguing.
"They're at it again,'' Sinder, 72, recalled telling his wife when he'd hear the raised voices.
Police were sometimes called to the home when tempers flared, others said.
"She was a feisty little old lady,'' neighbor Tom Pohl, 58, said of Kestian.
"She was the block watchdog.''
Neighbors believed Kestian might have other children who live out of state.
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