Eduardo Barragan, the son of 1800Mattress.com founder, has been arraigned in a Long Island hospital on charges of murdering his mother.
Defense attorney Andrew Monteleone on Friday pleaded not guilty for Barragan.
The lawyer says his 39-year-old client has been hospitalized for heart palpitations. He described Barragan as "incoherent'' at the hospital arraignment.
Barragan beat 65-year-old Kay Barragan to death Tuesday after an argument at their Searingtown home, authorities say. Lt. John Azzata, chief of the Nassau County homicide squad, declined to say what the argument was about and said detectives were still investigating what preceded the killing of Kay Barragan, the wife of the 1-800-MATTRESS founder. A handyman who worked for the family found the 65-year-old woman's body at about 7:20 a.m. Wednesday at the bottom of a staircase, police said.
Police say she had bled to death.
Barragan is scheduled to return to court on June 25 after a monthlong psychiatric exam to see if he's fit to stand trial.
Barragan's attorney declined to comment on the accusations.
Barragan was credited with lending her husband, Napoleon Barragan, $2,000 earned from selling Avon products in Queens to start Dial-A-Mattress in 1976. She had also worked for the company in its early years.
1-800-Mattress was famous in the New York metro area for its ads with the popular slogan “leave off the last S for savings.”
The privately held company, based in the Long Island City section of Queens, has had annual sales of more than $100 million. It was renamed 1800mattress.com in 1996 to reflect its growth online.
In March, the company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn. A number of creditors including mattress retailer Sleepy's have expressed interest in bidding on the company's assets. The court has set a May 28 auction date.
“Obviously, for the family it's a terrible tragedy,” said company spokesman Stan Steinreich. He recalled Kay Barragan as proud of the company she helped found and “very supportive of her family, especially her four children, that was very important to her.”
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The spokesman had no comment on Eduardo Barragan's arrest but said he “had been treated for a number of mental illnesses over the years.”
The Barragans had been married more than 40 years but had been living apart. Kay Barragan and her son had lived in Searingtown, on Long Island; Barragan lives in Queens, Steinreich said. He did not say how long the couple had lived apart.
Barragan was born on Dec. 5, 1943, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and emigrated with her husband to New York City from Bogota, Colombia, in 1969.
In addition to Barragan's husband and son, survivors include a daughter, Kay Otilia Massel, of Santa Rosa, Ca., and 12 grandchildren.
The family has also endured the tragic deaths of 34-year-old Luis Barragan, president and CEO of 1800mattress.com, in a 2006 swimming accident, and 27-year-old Beatrice Barragan, who died of an illness in 2003.
