Arguments In UWS Nanny Murder Trial Set To Begin: DA

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Nearly six years after Yoselyn Ortega was arrested and charged with murdering two Upper West Side children in her care the prosecution and defense will present their opening arguments in trial, a representative for the Manhattan district attorney's office said.

Opening arguments in Ortega's trial are scheduled to begin Thursday after a lengthy jury selection process and years of pre-trial hearings, according to the district attorney's office. Ortega — accused of stabbing 6-year-old Lulu Krim and 2-year-old Leo Krim to death on October 25, 2o12 — is facing two counts of murder, according to court records.

The children's mother, Marina Krim, entered the family's West 75th Street home on October 25 to find her children stabbed to death and Ortega with a slit throat, the Daily News reported at the time. The mother had left the children with Ortega while she took her 3-year-old daughter to swimming lessons, according to the report.

Kevin Krim, the children's father, was on a plan home from California when the bodies were found, the New York Times reported in 2012. The father was stopped by police in the airport and taken to St. Luke’s Hospital to reunite with his wife, the Times reported.

The murders shocked members of the Upper West Side community and captured the attention of New York City as a whole. Neighbors expressed disbelief that Ortega was capable of the violent act due to her closeness with the Krim family, the Daily News reported in 2012. The family had even spent several days with the nanny's family while vacationing in the Dominican Republic, according to the report.

Ortega has been held in custody with no option for bail since her arrest.

Photo by Mary Altaffer/Associated Press