New York nanny 'who stabbed two children to death' found fit to stand trial after she has lengthy chats with family from prison undermining her insanity plea

Fit for trial: Nanny Yoselyn Ortega has pleaded not guilty to killing Lucia and Leo Krim

A New York City nanny charged with stabbing two small children to death has again been found fit for trial.
A Manhattan judge reaffirmed his finding in Yoselyn Ortega's case on Tuesday after he was asked to reconsider.
Ortega allegedly killed six-year-old Lucia Krim and two-year-old Leo Krim in October while their mother was out picking up her third child from a swimming lesson.
Authorities say Ortega also cut her throat in a suicide attempt. She has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Defense lawyer Valerie Van Leer-Greenberg has said Ortega's delusions and injuries mean she cannot understand the case.
Doctors offered diverging views of Ortega's mental state.
State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro also heard recorded phone calls Ortega made from jail to relatives. She sounded coherent while discussing everyday matters.
The prosecution presented audio recording of Yoselyn Ortega, 50, speaking coherently with her family on the phone from jail, giving advice and showing concern for building works - evidence they say that she is not mentally disabled.
After the killings, Ortega told doctors she didn't remember the attacks and that she heard voices telling her to kill people.

Ortega is due to stand trial for the first-degree murder of the two children, Lucia and Leo Krim, ages 6 and 2, who were found stabbed to death inside their parents’ apartment on the upper West Side, New York, last October.
At a hearing on Monday, the court heard a recording of Ortega chatting with her family, in reasoned statements. In a conversation with her 17-year-old son, Jesus, she asked about renovations being done to the house.
Quoted by NY Daily News, she showed understanding about why tiles would be laid after paint work has been done, because otherwise, 'the tiles get dirty while painting'.
She also expressed concern about the family planning to go out at a time when workers were scheduled to arrive, the news service said, and remembered details of the planned renovations.
While prosecutors said this was evidence of her sanity, Ms Leer-Greenberg called defense witness Dr. Karen Rosenbaum, who testified that Ortega’s seemingly lucid thought process during the calls was not proof she is mentally fit.

Quoted by the news service, Rosenbaum said: 'Somebody can function in a day-to-day sense on some level but still not be competent to stand trial because of the specific nature of what [the law] demands.'
'She de-compensates under stress,' Rosenbaum said on cross-examination, the NY Daily News reported.
The nanny attempted to slit her own throat on October 25 after Marina Krim came home to her Upper West Side apartment to find her daughter and son dead in a pool of blood in the bath.
Last month, Ortega was examined by two mental health professionals, both of whom found that she could assist in her defense in a meaningful way and that she was mentally fit to proceed to her trial. Her lawyer is challenging those results.
In June, Ortega claimed someone else killed the children she's accused of stabbing all over their bodies in the Krims home.
'I didn't do that,' the nanny insisted in jailhouse interview with New York Daily News. 'Someone else did.'
Ortega did not say who else could be responsible for murdering the children.

Plea: Yoselyn Ortega, pictured centre, has pleaded not guilty to killing six-year-old Lucia Krim (right) and her two-year-old brother Leo while they were in her care at their Manhattan home

Loss: Two-year-old Leo and his big sister Lucia, six, were found in a pool of blood in the family's home

Victims: Only Nessie, whose picture has been pixelated, escaped harm as she was with her mother

Ortega, Lucia and Leo had been due to meet Mrs Krim and Nessie at a dance studio, but the mother became concerned when they failed to turn up and returned to the home.

After learning from the doorman that the nanny had not left the building, Mrs Krim frantically searched the apartment and came across the grisly scene in the bathroom.
Ortega's suicide bid failed and she was put in a medically-induced coma.
When questioned by police after awaking from the coma, the nanny attempted to paint Mrs Krim in a bad light, shifting part of the blame for the tragedy on her.
Ortega, who had told neighbors and family that she was short of money, revealed she resented her employers because they kept telling her what to do and asked her to do the housework.
'She said something like, "I'm paid to watch the children, not clean up and do housework",' a law-enforcement source said of Ortega’s statements to police after she woke from the coma.
Ortega became extremely animated when she discussed the incident with police, telling officers that  she had numerous disagreements with mother Marina about how the kids were being cared for.

Reports claimed Marina didn't think Ortega was interacting with the kids enough and was giving them junk food.
The Krims were also reportedly worried about Ortega's job performance in the weeks leading up to the killings and had told her that if she didn't improve, they might need to replace her.

But the Krims' extended family dispute they treated her poorly, explaining that they paid for her to travel on holidays and even visited her family in the Dominican Republic.

In April, Ortega, was ruled fit to stand trial and will now face a jury for two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In June, the Krim's revealed they are expecting a baby boy in October,

Family: Lulu is pictured with her father Kevin Krim and mother Marina Krim, who found her children stabbed in the bathtub and their nanny with a slit throat and wrists on the bathroom floor

Happy news: Marina and Kevin Krim, whose son and daughter were allegedly stabbed to death by their nanny last year, have revealed that they are expecting a baby boy this fall

'Hello everyone, We are very happy to let you know that Marina is expecting a baby in the fall,' read the message on the Lulu & Leo Fund.
'Nessie can’t wait to welcome her new baby brother. We are filled with many emotions as we look to the future, but the most important one is hope. We are very grateful to you all for your amazing support.'
In January, Mr Krim, an executive at America's CNBC television station, said that they are drawing strength from their remaining child.
He said: 'Marina and I couldn't be more proud of her - she is very smart, beautiful and tough. And she's grown so much over the past two months. She saves us every day.'

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK