Bay Area Man Formally Charged with Beating Mom to Death

BAY AREA, CA -- A man charged with beating his mother to death with a baseball bat outside Gilroy on Christmas morning has now appeared in court for the first time.

On the afternoon of Dec. 29, Matthew Salewske, 39, was charged with one count of murder with the additional allegation of the use of a deadly weapon in the killing of his mother Claudia Salewske, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Michael Gilman said.

According to County Sheriff's Sgt. Josh Singleton, the lead investigator in the case against Salewske, Salewske's father called 911 dispatchers to report the attack at about 11 a.m. on Christmas Day.

Deputies responded to a home at 2650 Roop Road in unincorporated Gilroy, near Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park.

The caller told the dispatcher that his son was schizophrenic and attacked his mother, Claudia Salewske, with a baseball bat, Singleton said.

Deputies arrived and detained the defendant near the property's front gate, Singleton said, adding that Salewske volunteered to deputies that he had hit his mother with a baseball bat.

The deputies attended to the 70-year-old victim and took the baseball bat, which was lying on the ground next to her.

Claudia Salewske, a longtime English lecturer at San Jose State University, was taken to Saint Louise Regional Hospital in an ambulance and then was taken to Regional Medical Center in San Jose in a helicopter. She was pronounced dead there just after 2 p.m.

Throughout his arraignment Thursday in San Jose, Salewske wore a yellow jail uniform, denoting an inmate with psychiatric issues, and rocked back and forth in his seat.

Salewske faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life if he's convicted of first-degree murder.

He's being held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 19.

Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Santa Clara County Sheriff's Dept