A Florida courtroom descended into chaos when Amanda Cook, 41, was abruptly removed after launching into a bizarre, shouting outburst as she was sentenced to life in prison for brutally killing her roommate.
Cook had just entered the courtroom for her Jan. 22 sentencing when she began yelling incoherent statements, stunning those in attendance. Video from the hearing shows her smiling as she walked in — before suddenly shouting, “I need a military tribunal. This is a satan synagogue!”
As Joseph Foster attempted to proceed, Cook repeatedly interrupted him, yelling over the judge as he asked whether she wanted to remain present for sentencing. The disruptions continued until the judge finally instructed courtroom security to remove her.
As deputies escorted Cook out, she could still be heard shouting: “Whoa! Whoa! Just got busted! Get down, they’re coming in!”
Once the courtroom settled, the judge stated on the record that he believed Cook was “malingering” — a legal term referring to someone exaggerating or feigning mental illness in an attempt to avoid responsibility.
With Cook no longer present, the sentencing continued. She was formally sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 killing of her 64-year-old roommate, Karen Leiti.
Cook was originally arrested on July 3, 2019, after deputies responded to her home and found Leiti dead on the living room floor. Authorities had been alerted by Cook’s mother, who told investigators her daughter arrived at her home in the early morning hours claiming she had gotten into an altercation with her roommate.
Cook initially told police that Leiti had tripped over a speaker and hit her head. But a medical examiner later determined the injuries were consistent with intentional blunt-force trauma. Investigators also recovered a blood-covered object from the living room that matched Leiti’s injuries.
Cook was ultimately convicted of the murder and sentenced in Collier County, near Naples. An attorney for Cook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The explosive courtroom scene marked a dramatic end to a case that has gripped the local community for years — and ensured Cook’s final moments before sentencing were as disturbing as the crime itself.
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