Judge Says Man Who Set Woman Ablaze Must Be Examined Before Sentencing

John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times Jerome Isaac, who admitted to setting a woman on fire and killing her inside an elevator, appeared in a Brooklyn courtroom on Friday.

The man who set a woman ablaze in an elevator last December - brutally killing her just steps from her apartment - said that he had heard voices and that the devil had told him what to do, a Brooklyn State Supreme Court judge said on Friday.

The man, Jerome Isaac, 48, made these statements after waiving an insanity defense and pleading guilty last month to first-degree murder and second-degree arson.

< p>Mr. Isaac faces at least 50 years in prison.

But on Friday, as Mr. Isaac prepared to be sentenced, the judge, Justice Vincent Del Giudice, cited a probation report that detailed Mr. Isaac's statements and delayed the hearing. Mr. Isaac needed to undergo an examination of his mental health before he could be sentenced, Justice Del Guidice said.

“I want to be sure he's competent,” he said.

Mr. Isaac's lawyer, Howard Tanner, said he believed Mr. Isaac was competent.

“He's been remorseful throughout this process,” Mr. Tanner said, adding that Mr. Isaac had pleaded guilty to “spare the family any further trauma.”

At one point, a daughter of the victim, Deloris Gillespie, burst into tears.

“Several doctors already examined him,” the daughter, Sheila Gillespie-Hillsman said in an interview, adding, “I just want to get this over with.”

Relatives and authorities said the killing stemmed fro m a disagreement over money: Ms. Gillespie had hired Mr. Isaac to help her clean out her three-bedroom apartment in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn.

But when Ms. Gillespie came to believe that Mr. Isaac was stealing from her, she fired him.

On Dec. 17, 2011, two surveillance cameras at Ms. Gillespie's apartment building captured Mr. Isaac with a gas canister, and wearing white gloves and a surgical mask. As Ms. Gillespie was about to exit the elevator, near her fifth-floor apartment, Mr. Isaac sprayed her with an accelerant, then tossed a Molotov cocktail inside.

Mr. Isaac later told the authorities that Ms. Gillespie owed him $2,000.