Colleagues of Judith Brown were stunned yesterday after learning the Cole Porter aficionado allegedly bludgeoned her elderly brother-in-law to death in the Poconos.
“She is a wonderful and talented woman who has through the years been very devoted to Cole Porter and his songs,” said lawyer Peter L. Felcher, the trustee for the Cole Porter Musical and Literary Property Trusts.
“It’s something that I never would have expected in a million years, assuming [she did it] and that remains to be proven,” Felcher said.
Brown, 59, the well-liked Manhattan musician and pianist, was arrested in Pennsylvania last week for allegedly striking her brother-in-law Joseph Bertilacci, 88, with objects such as candlesticks and furniture legs, and killing him, cops said.
According to the police affidavit, the 5-foot-4-inch Brown claimed she hit Bertilacci in self-defense, trying to fend off unwanted sexual advances.
The arrest “shocked” and “saddened” James Morgan, the York Theatre Company director who worked with Brown.
Brown is being held at the Monroe County Correctional Facility, Stroudsburg, Pa., without bail.