Accused double-killer seeks competency evaluation
NORRISTOWN >> Lawyers for a Delaware County woman accused of a double homicide in West Norriton are seeking a mental health evaluation for the woman to determine if she is competent to move forward with court proceedings on murder charges.
Defense lawyer Gregory L. Nester, chief of the pretrial unit in the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office, filed court papers applying for an “incompetency examination” for accused killer Naseema Sami, 43, of the 200 block of Folsom Avenue in Folsom.
“The purpose of the evaluation is to determine whether the defendant is substantially able to understand the nature or object of the proceedings against her or to participate and assist in her defense,” Nester wrote in court papers.
If a judge grants the request for the evaluation, it’s likely that Sami’s March 21 preliminary hearing before District Court Judge Marc Alfarano will be postponed.
On Tuesday, county Judge Thomas C. Branca granted a petition appointing defense lawyer Carrie L. Allman, the chief homicide lawyer in the public defender’s office, to represent Sami.
Sami, who remains in the county jail without bail while awaiting court action, faces two counts each of first- and third-degree murder in connection with the alleged March 7 murders of Lila Frost, 78, and Lorraine Gigliello, 68, inside Frost’s home in the first block of West Indian Lane in the Port Indian section of West Norriton.
Additional charges lodged against Sami include criminal trespass, possessing an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and endangering the welfare of a child. Authorities alleged Sami’s 6-year-old son was with her at the time she killed the women.
The investigation began at 8:17 p.m. March 10 when West Norriton police responded to a neighbor’s call for a wellness check at the Frost residence and found the victims’ bodies. Sami and her son were found hiding underneath a bed in the residence.
A joint investigation by county detectives and township police revealed that Sami, a former tenant of Frost’s, had gone to the residence on March 7 with the child seeking unspecified help. Finding no one there Sami allegedly entered the unlocked apartment.
Sami, according to a criminal complaint, told investigators Gigliello stopped by and asked what Sami was doing at the residence. When Gigliello threatened to call police and reached for a phone, Sami allegedly attacked Gigliello, striking her several times and slashing her with broken glass.
Sami allegedly admitted to beating Frost to death when Frost came home in the midst of the attack on Gigliello.
Prosecutors alleged the victims suffered multiple injuries.
Sami’s son was present during the murders and also witnessed his mother’s attempt to clean up the scene using bedclothes to wrap one of the bodies and more than 10 bottles bleach, according to authorities.
The boy was interviewed at the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Center, Mission Kids, and is now staying with relatives, according to officials.
The deaths are the first homicides to occur in West Norriton since 1986, according to prosecutors.