Daughter, Grandson Held in Slaying of Woman, 78

A La Canada Flintridge woman found dead Sunday night was shot and killed by her daughter and 11-year-old grandson as she sought help by telephone after being stabbed, authorities alleged Monday.

Family members said the slaying culminated more than two decades of mental instability by the daughter, who they said was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.

Roma Jaul Jacobs, 78, dialed 911 around 6:50 p.m. from her home in the upper-middle-class community and told Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies that she had been stabbed. Officers taking the frantic call reported hearing gunshots in the background.

By the time deputies arrived a few minutes later and forced their way into the ranch-style home in the 600 block of Durwood Drive, Jacobs was dead, authorities said.

Deputies discovered a woman dressed in combat fatigues and a boy clad in girl’s clothing in the back yard. Deputies said they also found three firearms on the suspects and in nearby bushes.

Authorities said the pair turned out to be the victim’s daughter, Victoria Elizabeth Jacobs Madeira, 43, of Anaheim, and the victim’s 11-year-old grandson, whose name was not released. Both were booked on suspicion of murder. The mother and son offered no resistance to arrest, deputies said.

“They were just standing there,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Flores. “But they refused to talk, wouldn’t say anything.”

Jacobs’ family said Madeira has aimed her aggression at the family for the last 22 years, despite their efforts to help her. They said she has been institutionalized at times.

“What happened here was a tragedy, a tragedy of this family and a tragedy of the failure of the mental health system,” Brian Jacobs, the victim’s son and Madeira’s brother, said in a brief interview at the crime scene.

Jacobs and other family members declined to discuss details of Madeira’s history, but he testified Monday in Los Angeles before a state Senate panel on mental health and plans to appear in Sacramento today on the same subject to express his concerns about the system used to treat the mentally disabled.

Neighbors, warned to stay inside Sunday night as deputies moved into the Jacobs house, watched from their homes as Madeira, handcuffed, was led quietly to a squad car. But her son slammed his head against the side of the vehicle and began screaming when his mother was taken away, witnesses said.

Jacobs, a homemaker who neighbors said had lived in the house for 35 years, had been stabbed and shot several times, deputies said.

“It was apparent that she had been bleeding before she made the (911) call because the blood came from the kitchen door all the way to the phone,” Flores said. “There was a lot of blood, and a lot of expended (bullet) rounds.”

“We have no motive yet,” said Deputy Larry Mead. “That’s what we’d like to find out.”

Samantha Kalmer, 15, who lives a few doors from the Jacobs home, said that about 6 p.m. she and a friend noticed a large woman in military fatigues and a large boy or man with closely cropped hair who appeared to be wearing gold earrings, women’s makeup, a colorful blouse and silk pants.

“I thought he was a girl,” Kalmer said. “It looked very, very weird.”

Other neighbors recalled the boy wearing a dress and an orange wig. Police would say only that he had on “female clothing.”

Brian Jacobs’ fiancee, Carla McLelland, said of the boy’s attire: “That’s just Betty and another one of the symptoms of her schizophrenia.”

Laura Gatkowski, who lives next door, was watching TV and said she did not believe it when guests in her home said they thought they heard shots.

“I heard the ‘bang, bang, bang,’ ” she said, “but I didn’t know they were gunshots. I’d never heard gunshots before. I just couldn’t believe it. It’s scary to even think about.”

Robert Wolff, who lives next door to Jacobs and said his children visited the victim frequently.

“She was such a sweet, wonderful person. This is the sort of person anyone would like for a grandmother,” Wolff said. “How do you explain to a 4-year-old now that someone was murdered?”

Times staff writer Tammerlin Drummond in Orange County contributed to this article.