Man Who Fatally Torched 73-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to 50 Years to Life

DITMAS PARK, NY -- The man who covered an elderly woman with gasoline and then set her on fire while she was inside the elevator of a Prospect Heights building was sentenced Friday with 50 years to life in prison, District Attorney Charles Hynes announced. 

Jerome Isaac doused  and threw a Molotov cocktail into the elevator of her Underhill Avenue apartment building in December of 2011, all of which was caught on video on the elevator’s security camera. 

Isaac said that Gillespie owed him $2,100 for five months worth of cleaning work done in her apartment.

Isaac will not be eligible for parole for at least 50 years, when he is 98 years old, a spokeswoman for the DA's office said.

When the plea deal was announced in November, Gillespie's niece called the sentence a "profound disappointment."

Tracy Robinson said via e-mail the plea deal has renewed her anguish over the "blatant, cruel, and horrific" method of the murder, but added that as a "woman of faith,"she believes that "even this is in God's hands."

Shelia Hillsman, Gillespie's daughter, told the Daily News in October that she wished New York state had the death penalty, also would have liked to see a stiffer sentence so they could "do to him exactly what he did to my mother."

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