Closing arguments in Upper West Side nanny murder trial
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Closing arguments were delivered Monday in the trial of a nanny accused of killing two young children in her care.
Yoselyn Ortega's lawyer has argued she was too mentally ill to understand what she allegedly did back in October of 2012.
However, prosecutors say Ortega knew exactly what she was doing when she fatally stabbed 6-year-old Lulu Krim and 2-year-old Leo in the bathroom of their Upper West Side apartment.
Ortega never once looked at the victims' father, Kevin Krim, who sat just a few feet away from the woman he once trusted to watch his three children.
Ortega's attorney maintained that in the days and months leading up to the gruesome murders, the 55-year-old was "coming apart at the seems...wresting with subterranean demons" and hearing voices .
The defense said her mental illness dates back to 1978, and on that day in 2012, her lawyer said Ortega was suffering from severe psychosis and depression and was mentally incapable of having intent to kill or understanding her actions.
But in video taken in July of 2016, Ortega's own answers seem to knock down the defense theory. Ortega admitted she wasn't hearing any voices.
Leo and Lulu's mother Marina found her kids' lifeless bodies in a bathtub. Ortega had also stabbed herself several times.
At the time, Marina was with the couple's third child, a little girl.
Prosecutors insist that while Ortega may have been depressed, she wasn't psychotic. They say the motive was Ortega's mounting financial troubles and her deep resentment of the Krims.
Ortega faces a possible sentence of life behind bars if convicted.
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