The evil arsonist who said the devil made him torch an elderly Brooklyn woman to death in an elevator will spend the rest of his life in prison, a judge ruled yesterday.
Jerome Isaac, 48, admitted in a plea deal that he ambushed churchgoer Dolores Gillespie, 73, in 2011 — spraying her with gasoline, setting her aflame with a barbecue lighter and throwing a Molotov cocktail on her already-burning body as her screams echoed through her Prospect Heights building.
“This has to be one of the most horrific crimes I’ve ever seen,” said Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Vincent DelGiudice, who sentenced Isaac to 50 years to life.
“He will die in jail,” Gillespie’s daughter said in a statement read by prosecutors. “While my authentic feeling continues to be anger, ultimately, we believe that you fight fire with water . . . not fire. So may God have mercy on his soul.”
Gillespie had hired Isaac for odd jobs, but fired him when he stole her kitchenware and DVD player. An unhinged Isaac, believing the victim owed him money, lay in wait for Gillespie near her apartment and launched his fiery attack in the elevator when she returned from grocery shopping.
The fire was so intense that Isaac’s face was badly burned and his clothes still reeked of gas when he was collared eight hours later.
When asked if he wanted to speak yesterday, Isaac shook his head no.
The judge, prosecutor and defense attorney all agreed that the video of the horrific attack — captured by a surveillance camera in the elevator — was among the worst sights they had ever seen.
“I would have thought after 30 years in this business very little would have shocked me,” said Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Mark Hale.
“I was wrong. It’s a permanent part of my dreamscape. I have nightmares and that tops the list.”
The judge and both attorneys praised how the plea deal would ensure that no one else would be forced to watch the gruesome footage.
“It does in fact spare the family and the public the trauma of seeing the video,” defense attorney Howard Tanner said. Tanner also said his client — a Rastafarian — asks that the Department of Corrections not cut his hair.
Isaac’s original November sentencing was delayed after he told probation officials that he “hears voices” and “the devil tells him what do,” and DelGiudice ordered a psychological evaluation.
Isaac passed the psyche evaluation and yesterday DelGiudice judged fit to be sentenced.
Tanner said Isaac isn’t insane, but that “His statement that the devil told him to do it was his way of dealing with his crime.”
DelGiudice sentenced Isaac to 25 years to life for murder and 25 years for arson.
“I can’t conceive of any right-minded individual allowing Mr. Isaac to rejoin the public,” he said.