Man stabbed grandmother, set her on fire because he believed she was the devil: police

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pennsylvania man is accused of killing his grandmother because he thought she was the devil.

The Pocono Record reported that 28-year-old George Sisco of Milford, Pike County is charged with criminal homicide after he allegedly stabbed his grandmother, 67-year-old Margie Finlay, and set her on fire.

According to the criminal complaint, obtained by the Pocono Record, the assistant chief of the Milford Fire Department responded to a house fire on Oak Court in Milford Township at around noon on April 26. When he arrived at the scene, he found Sisco, who was accused of saying, "She was the devil, I had to do it." When firefighters the home, they found the 67-year-old woman dead with knife wounds and burns, the newspaper reported.

The Pocono Record reported that when Sisco talked to investigators, he said that he had believed for seven months that his grandmother was the devil. The criminal complaint, obtained by the Pocono Record, went on to say that the 28-year-old man saw his grandmother putting flea medication on her cat, "which he believed was poisoning the cat," and he "had to take action."

Sisco also told investigators, according to the Pocono Record, that he read in the Bible that "to kill the devil, he must use the holy spirit and fire." The man is accused of lighting a kitchen rag on fire, putting it on his grandmother's body and saying a prayer while the fire spread. Before setting her on fire, Sisco hit his grandmother and then slashed her throat and stabbed her.

Sisco reportedly faces other charges, including aggravated assault, aggravated arson and arson endangering property.

Pike County is in Northeastern Pennsylvania.