Woman sentenced to life for killing two she believed were ‘clones or bio-machines’

Norristown, Pennsylvania: 46-year-old Naseema Sami has been found guilty but mentally ill for murdering 78-year-old Lila Frost and 68-year-old Lorraine Gigliello in March, 2019.

Judge William R. Carpenter sentenced her to life in prison.

A mental health evaluation determined that Sami was competent to stand trial despite her attorney's assertion that Sami was suffering from "psychotic beliefs and intense paranoia" at the time of the crime.

Sami testified during the trial that she believed the women were "clones or bio-machines" and court documents indicate she believed that one of the women was "pushing buttons in her head."

She claimed her actions were in self defense and denied either having a mental illness or being insane.

During the trial Sami's relatives testified that she expressed belief that people were following her, that she was Jesus, that God was speaking to her, and that trees were bowing to her in the weeks leading up to the killings. She additionally expressed belief that a dentist had placed a tracker into a tooth.

"This is one of the most horrific crimes I've seen in my 24 years of being a prosecutor," Tom McGoldrick said.

"We feel that the verdict was appropriate," prosecutor Meghan Carney said. "It's just a horrific, sad case. There's no real winners in this case at all."

Sami's defense attorney though, was disappointed that the judge did not agree with the insanity defense, saying that "mental illness doesn't come in a single form or a single package."

"The fact that Ms. Sami is educated and articulate and that her delusions only come in certain ways doesn't make her any less mentally ill," Carrie Allman said. "She will spend the rest of her life in prison because we live in a state that does not believe people are redeemable."