Jurors rejected Ramy Fahim’s insanity claim after he pleaded guilty to killing Griffin Cuomo and Jonathan Bahm.

SANTA ANA, Calif. — An Irvine financial analyst was sentenced May 13 to consecutive life terms without parole for killing his co-worker and the co-worker’s roommate inside an Anaheim apartment after jurors found he was legally sane.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer sentenced Ramy Hany Mounir Fahim, 30, after Fahim pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and admitted special circumstance allegations tied to the deaths of 23-year-old Griffin Robert Cuomo and 23-year-old Jonathan Andrew Bahm. The sentence closed a case that began with an early morning 911 call on April 19, 2022, and ended with a jury rejecting Fahim’s effort to avoid full criminal responsibility through an insanity claim.

The killings took place at the Stadium House apartments in the 2100 block of Katella Avenue, near State College Boulevard. Prosecutors said Fahim went to the complex the night before the attack and was encountered by a building security guard on the roof around midnight. He later was seen on the same floor as the victims’ apartment the morning of the killings. District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Fahim “carefully calculated how to gain access” to the building and waited for the right moment to attack. Police were called around 6:50 a.m. after Bahm reached a dispatcher while the assault was unfolding.

Fahim and Cuomo worked together at Pence Wealth Management, an Orange County firm, where prosecutors said Fahim had become angry about the amount of work Cuomo assigned him and had complained that Cuomo was micromanaging him. Cuomo worked in marketing and media. Fahim was a research associate. The workplace dispute became part of the state’s theory of motive, but prosecutors said the evidence went beyond anger at the office. They said Fahim lay in wait, brought a hunting dagger, attacked Cuomo as Cuomo was leaving for work and then killed Bahm because Bahm had called 911 and could identify him.

Investigators said the attack began when Fahim ambushed Cuomo and stabbed him repeatedly. Cuomo and Fahim tumbled back into the apartment, where the assault continued. Bahm retreated to a bathroom and called 911, but prosecutors said Fahim forced his way through the bathroom door and killed him while he was still on the phone. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Fahim was still inside the apartment when Anaheim police officers arrived. He was hospitalized for minor injuries before he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The case turned, in its final phase, on Fahim’s mental state. Fahim had entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, which required jurors to decide whether he was legally insane when the murders were committed even after he admitted guilt. Jurors found he was sane. The ruling meant the special circumstance murder pleas carried two consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Fahim also admitted to personally using a deadly weapon, which led Paer to add two years for weapon enhancements.

Fahim’s attorney, Marlin Stapleton Jr., asked the court for a lesser sentence of 52 years to life or for the life without parole terms to run at the same time. Stapleton argued that Fahim’s long history of mental illness should affect punishment. Paer rejected that request. “This case warrants the most extreme punishment under the law and anything less would be an injustice,” the judge said. “There is no discount for killing two.” The court’s decision reflected the jury’s finding that Fahim’s illness did not meet the legal standard for insanity at the time of the crimes.

Prosecutors said they found evidence that Fahim planned more than an assault. They said items in his car included a tarp and a shovel. They also said evidence showed he had considered cutting off Cuomo’s head and burying it somewhere, while leaving the body to be carried away in a dumpster. The plan, prosecutors said, was disrupted when Bahm was present and called police. They also said Fahim had researched serial killers and written disturbing notes on his computer, including questions about how victims are selected and whether a person could scream with a slit throat.

The case drew attention because the victims were young graduates whose lives had remained tied to Orange County after college. Cuomo and Bahm became friends at Chapman University and continued living together after graduation. Tributes described Bahm as deeply kind and Cuomo as curious, passionate and engaged. At sentencing, Robert Cuomo, Griffin Cuomo’s father, struggled to read a victim impact statement and broke down as he described learning that his son had been killed. The hearing put the families’ grief beside the legal record of planning, motive and mental health evidence.

Spitzer said the killings were not the product of legal insanity. “The violence carried out in that apartment was not an act of insanity,” he said. He said Fahim waited for hours on the roof until he could ambush Cuomo and then killed Bahm to avoid being caught. Prosecutors framed Bahm’s death as a murder to avoid arrest because he was calling for help. That allegation was among the special circumstance admissions that made Fahim eligible for life without parole rather than a term that could later allow release.

Fahim spoke briefly before the sentence. “I feel bad for what I did,” he told Paer. “I wish I could go back and change it. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. That’s it.” His statement did not change the outcome. The judge imposed consecutive life without parole terms and the additional weapon time. The sentence followed Fahim’s April 7 guilty plea and the jury’s May finding that he was sane when he committed the murders.

Currently, the case stands as a completed Orange County double-murder prosecution, with Fahim sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. No parole date will be set. The next formal steps are limited to routine post-sentencing court records and any appeal activity that may be filed.

Author note: Last updated June 2, 2026.