Photo by Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

Nanny Found Guilty On All Counts In Grisly Upper West Side Murder Case

April 18, 2018 - 2:23 pm

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) -- A nanny who stabbed two children to death at their home but argued she was too mentally ill to be held responsible was convicted of murder on Wednesday.

Ortega expressed no reaction to the verdict, staring straight ahead as it was read in court. The children's father, Kevin Krim, held hands with two alternate jurors who said they would stay for the verdict and then hugged them after it was read, and they cried together.

Mental illness "does not announce itself like a bad cough or a limp,'' Van Leer-Greenberg said during closing arguments. "Sometimes it sneaks up and nestles in before anyone takes notice.'' 
But prosecutors maintained that Ortega knew what she was doing and acted out of jealous hatred of the children's mother, Marina Krim, who was richer and happier than she was.
"She did it intentionally with a full understanding of exactly what it was she was doing -- every stab, every slash,'' Assistant District Attorney Stuart Silberg said during closing arguments.
Ortega, who's from the Dominican Republic, showed little emotion during the trial and mostly stared straight ahead. But she shook her head forcefully and mouthed "no'' during testimony that her employers treated her well.

DA Vance, Kevin Krim/Credit: Juliet Papa
Krim, after finding Lucia's and Leo's bodies in the family's home, ran outside with Nessie, called for help and started screaming.
"It was a scream you can't imagine is even inside of you,'' she testified. "I don't even know where it came from. 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.'''
Their father had been away on a business trip. At Ortega's trial, he spoke of walking down a long hallway at the hospital where he saw his children.
"They still had this perfect skin and these long eyelashes,'' Kevin Krim said. "They had like sandy brown hair. --- You could see they tried really hard to wash all the blood out, but there was still kind of an auburn tint to it that I remember to this day.''
The father's testimony brought tears to the jurors and to people seated in the courtroom gallery.
Ortega, who's 55 years old, faces life in prison when she's sentenced next month.