James Olsen sentenced to 17 years to life in prison for strangling bedridden mother, Ruth Olsen

A son who went from live-in caretaker to killer when he strangled his 88-year-old bedridden mother with a necktie in their Garden City home will serve a prison sentence of 17 years to life for her murder, a judge ruled Monday.

After failing at suicide, James Olsen admitted to the April 2011 slaying in a 911 call that brought police to the home he shared with Ruth Olsen.

"I strangled her . . . with a tie," he told a communications operator, adding later: "I'm just crazy. I have to be crazy."

The defense argued at trial that James Olsen, 60, was mentally ill and didn't know right from wrong when he killed his mother as she lay in bed in her nightgown.

A defense expert testified the son became so depressed while caring for the Alzheimer's disease patient that he decided to take his life and hers so she wouldn't go into a nursing home.

But jurors rejected the insanity defense, convicting him of second-degree murder.

Nassau County Judge Angelo Delligatti Monday called the case one of the more difficult he's handled.

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But Delligatti also said the defendant didn't look to his own brother or social workers for help before he acted. The judge told James Olsen he hoped he'd get the psychiatric treatment he needs in prison.

"This tragedy isn't over, Mr. Olsen, but I hope that you find some peace," Delligatti said.

Olsen declined to comment as court officers led him away in handcuffs.

Defense attorney Paul Delle said his client was disappointed by the sentence and planned an appeal.

"I still think that, based on uncontroverted evidence from the psychologist, that he was suffering from insanity at that time and that he couldn't appreciate what he was doing or understand that it was wrong," the Garden City lawyer said.

The prosecution had told jurors that James Olsen had tired of caring for the family matriarch and had been anxious about finances because he was living off his mother's money -- using some of it from a reverse mortgage to buy himself a $1,000 camera.

Assistant District Attorney Christine Geier also said the mother awoke in bed as her son pulled the necktie he'd laid out the night before around her neck, with the victim saying "You're choking me," before he pulled even tighter.

Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice, in a prepared statement Monday, called Ruth Olsen's death a tragedy that "could have been averted if Mr. Olsen had just reached out for help instead of lashing out against his ailing mother."

The defendant's brother, Steven Olsen of Valley Stream, previously called the jury's May verdict the continuation of a family tragedy and said he believed his mother forgave his brother as he was killing her.

"His brother, to this day, says he shouldn't be in jail," Delle said, adding that he asked his client's supporters not to be present Monday because he believes the case will return to court in the future.