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Amy Cohen (Montgomery County Jail).
A Pennsylvania doctor is headed to prison after she sent threatening flyers and set fire to the porch of a home belonging to the 99-year-old grandmother of her ex-boyfriend’s new love interest.
Amy Cohen, 36, was sentenced Wednesday to 11 months to 23 months behind bars after she pleaded guilty to arson, making terroristic threats, stalking and recklessly endangering another person, according to court records. Prosecutors gave her credit for the six months she served at a mental health facility, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Her attorney asked the judge for probation, according to the Inquirer.
“It’s in everyone’s interest that she continue to heal and get better,” lawyer John McMahon said. “Not backslide and go to jail, and lose the benefit of all this treatment. That doesn’t make sense.”
But Montgomery County Judge Wendy Rothstein said Cohen needed to take accountability for her actions. The woman who was the subject of Cohen’s ire also spoke to the court, saying she feared for her safety when Cohen, a doctor, was out on bond.
“Amy demonstrated a total disregard for human life, which is disgusting, knowing that she is a doctor,” the woman said. She also said that although her grandmother, now 101, has memory issues due to her age, she still asks about the incident.
A psychologist who treated Cohen testified she suffered from borderline personality disorder, ADHD and anxiety since she was a child. At the time of the crimes, she was abusing the Adderall she was prescribed, the doctor told the court, according to the Inquirer. Cohen, an infectious disease specialist, was also reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, her doctor said.
Cohen addressed the court and apologized.
“I know me saying I’m deeply sorry doesn’t compensate for my actions, but I hope you are able to begin to heal,” she reportedly said.
As Law&Crime previously reported, a criminal complaint said the investigation began Nov. 24, 2023, when Lower Merion police were called after someone left a flyer at the home of a 99-year-old woman that featured photos of two of her granddaughters with their eyes crossed out. The letter addressed the woman by name and said her “idiot” and “slut” granddaughters need to quit their jobs and leave Pennsylvania.
“We know what they’ve done. They need to leave alone. If they don’t, they will both get hurt. We will know. Don’t test us!” the letter said.
Another letter mailed to a different family member claimed the two granddaughters were “promoting islamophobia” after they posted their support of Israel on social media. Their pictures also were on the flyer, which said “we know” where they lived and worked.
“They are disgusting,” the letter said. “If they don’t leave Pennsylvania, they will BOTH get HURT. Don’t test US!”
The family alerted Lower Merion police, the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League.
More from Law&Crime: ‘Your house is on fire’: Woman torched ex’s home, killing his disabled mom, then went to McDonald’s and ‘purchased cocaine,’ prosecutors say
Fire crews responded to the fire at the grandmother’s home around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2023. She was sleeping in the home, but was not injured as firefighters contained the fire to the porch. Investigators found liquid spatter on the front wall, door and window which indicated the fire was intentionally set and someone used a flammable liquid to ignite the blaze, the affidavit said.
The grandmother’s family had installed cameras at the home after the letter was left behind. Videos reportedly showed the female suspect, small in stature, wearing a dark medical mask, black headband and clear safety glasses, winter coat, pants and Ugg boots, holding lighter fluid and a stick lighter. After she lit the fire, the suspect emptied the bottle of lighter fluid on the porch. The fire burned so brightly that the camera turned from night mode to day mode, thus illuminating the victim’s face, according to the affidavit.
The family reviewed the video footage and the boyfriend of one of the homeowner’s granddaughters who had previously been threatened recognized the suspect as someone he used to date: Cohen.
The boyfriend said he and the victim’s granddaughter met in June and while he was seeing other people the two soon agreed by late summer that they would become exclusive. He had been dating Cohen for about six months but broke it off with her and she “did not take it well,” the affidavit said. When he said he did not want to see Cohen anymore she “became very emotional,” the affidavit said. Cohen told him in early September 2023 that she “wanted closure” and asked that they meet up at a coffee shop to talk. He agreed.
During the meeting, he said Cohen “began to cry” and said she “loved” him, but he reiterated that the relationship was over. When he reviewed the video camera of the fire, he told investigators he believed it was Cohen who set it, detectives wrote.
Lower Merion police and the FBI obtained surveillance footage from Cohen’s apartment complex that showed her vehicle entered the parking garage not long after the fire. She was also wearing similar clothing to the person in the video who set the woman’s porch on fire. Detectives obtained numerous search warrants.
They were fruitful.
Investigators went to Bryn Mawr Hospital where Cohen worked. She was wearing the black headband she was wearing when she allegedly set the fire. She also had a notepad with several elementary schools in the Philadelphia area, some of which were crossed out. Her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend is an elementary school teacher, cops said.
In Cohen’s car, cops found black surgical masks, clear safety glasses, matches and two lighter fluid boxes, the complaint said. Detectives also allegedly found Ugg boots and other clothing similar to the ones that the arson suspect wore, a note with the address of the grandmother and copies of the threatening flyers.
“It is believed by your affiants that Amy Cohen engaged in a pattern of stalking against the victims listed herein,” detectives wrote in the complaint. “Amy Cohen communicated specific ideas in writing that were intended to make the victims feel threatened, and specifically included language that related the threats to the victims’ Jewish faith.”
Cohen knew the grandmother was home when she set the fire, detectives noted.
The Inquirer reported that Cohen’s medical license was suspended and has since expired.
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