Building Owned by Slain Robber’s Mother Up for Sale

The mother of one of the robbers killed in the North Hollywood bank shootout is trying to sell a Pasadena building where prosecutors have accused her of imprisoning a mentally disabled woman in squalor.

Valerie Nicolescu-Matasareanu, a former operator of an Altadena home for the disabled and the mother of robber Emil Matasareanu, has placed the 12-bedroom Pasadena house on the market, her attorney and a real estate agent said.

“She needs the money. She has bills to pay,” said her attorney, Mark Geragos.

A real estate agent listing the property said that Nicolescu-Matasareanu is asking $304,000 for the building.

“The owner is very, very anxious to get rid of it,” said Tom Joyce. “It is a 12-bedroom, nine-bathroom facility.”

The agent said he has two buyers interested in the property but is aware that some callers may be more interested in its notoriety than purchasing the building.

The structure once operated as Dechebal Inc., a computer business run by Emil Matasareanu, who also is listed as an owner of the building on property records.

Joyce said he is a longtime friend of Nicolescu-Matasareanu. “I have known Valerie and her son for years,” he said. “She once even worked for me, selling real estate.”

Last month, while searching the Pasadena building for clues on the slain gunman, police found Georgia Mayo, a 44-year-old mentally disabled woman, in a padlocked room with boarded-up windows, bug-ridden food and an open bucket for a toilet. Police said they used a key given to them by Nicolescu-Matasareanu to open the padlock.

Afterward, Nicolescu-Matasareanu, 54, was arrested by Pasadena police.

She has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of dependent abuse and false imprisonment as well as a misdemeanor charge of operating an unlicensed care facility.

On Tuesday, a preliminary hearing in the case was postponed to May 7. The Romanian native remains free on $50,000 bail.