Killer Nanny Yoselyn Ortega Is Convicted Of Stabbing Two Kids To Death
Yoselyn Ortega, the nanny who stabbed two children she cared for to death in their home has been convicted.
On Wednesday, April 18, New York jurors rejected Ortega's claim that she was too mentally ill to be held responsible for killing little girl Lucia Krim, 6, and her two-year-old brother Leo Krim in October 2012. The children were found by their mother Marina stabbed to death in a bathtub in their Manhattan apartment.
Lucia, who was called Lulu, was stabbed more than 30 times and had defensive wounds on her body. Leo had been slashed five times.
After two days of deliberation, a jury of six men and six women decided that Ortega, 55, was guilty on all charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
The children's father Kevin Krim broke into tears in court as the verdict was read, while Ortega showed no emotion.
If she won her insanity defense, Ortega, who is from the Dominican Republic, would have been sent to a psychiatric facility; now she faces a possible life in prison sentence.
Prosecutors argued that Ortega was well aware of what she was doing and killed the two children out of jealous hatred of their mom, Marina.
During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Stuart Silberg said of the nanny, "She did it intentionally with a full understanding of exactly what it was she was doing — every stab, every slash."
A law enforcement source told RadarOnline.com when the story first broke, “Yoselyn implied there was a lot of strain between she and Marina in the days leading up to the murders of little Leo and his older sister Lucia. The detectives were amazed at how cavalier Yoselyn was during parts of her interrogation. Yoselyn complained that she thought she should of been making more money and that she was being underpaid for additional duties than what she signed up for. When Yoselyn began working for the Krims, they also had a housekeeper and Yoselyn said that she didn’t like the way that Marina spoke to her. It was obvious Yoselyn was trying to portray her in a bad light.”
Outraged Marina said to her former nanny while in court, “I have to take a good look at you. You are just out of this world.”
During testimony, Ortega, shook her head "no" over the question of whether the Krims treated her well.
On the stand, Marina described seeing her dead children's vacant eyes and bodies covered in stab wounds. The mother had been at a swimming class with the Krims' other child, daughter Nessie, 3, when Lucia and Leo were murdered. Kevin was away on a business trip.
"I just thought: 'I'm never going to be able to talk to them ever again. They are dead. I just saw my kids dead," Marina said. “It’s so awful, it’s like a total horror movie," she shuddered.
Ortega had also stabbed herself in the throat, but she survived.
"You're evil and you like this!" Marina screamed at Ortega in court.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., released a statement on Wednesday after the verdict, noting, "For the past five years, Kevin and Marina Krim have lived through the worst nightmare any parents could ever endure.
"Yoselyn Ortega – a woman they trusted to safeguard their children, who worked for them for more than two years without incident – brutally murdered two of their children in their apartment's bathroom.
"Today, a jury rightly held Yoselyn Ortega accountable for the horrific slayings of Leo and Lulu Krim, and I thank the members of that jury for their diligence throughout this incredibly difficult and heartbreaking trial."
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