Jurors on Friday cast their votes for life instead of the death penalty for Vickie Williams in the vicious stabbing murders of Darryl and Sharon Getman in their Mount Dora home at Waterman Village.

It took less than an hour Tuesday to find her guilty of two counts of first-degree murder but they obviously took a long look at her actions that were so bizarre that even prosecutors had to admit she was severely mentally ill.

Circuit Judge Cary Rada sentenced her to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole and five years for the theft of their car on Dec. 31, 2022, but nothing can ease the pain of their loss, their son says.

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They were each stabbed more than 10 times. Mr. Getman, 83, had a knife sticking out of his abdomen. Police found bloody towels near Mrs. Getman, 80, “as if there had been some attempt to render aid or clean up,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

The slayings stunned Mount Dora residents, especially those that were neighbors of the couple who lived at 161 Lake Margaret Circle.

“There’s no need to feel like you have to watch your back,” says Mayor Crissy Stile, but that was when detectives were still searching for answers.

Williams was discovered in her hometown of Savannah sitting in the couple’s Kia Soul with items stolen from the house, including jewelry and Mrs. Getman’s purse.

She gave police a fake name, something she did just hours before the murders when Mount Dora police trespassed her from the Hampton Inn.

“She had a history of lying to protect herself time after time,” Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio told jurors.

She had strange encounters with residents before the murders, claiming a car belonged to her when it clearly belonged to a man’s wife. She followed the man into his garage. She asked to use one couple’s shower and permission to charge her phone but fled with their keys when they hit a security button. “Don’t follow me or I’ll hurt you,” she told the man.

“Clearly she was seeking transportation,” Camuccio says.

Security staff had escorted her off the property, but she came back.

Assistant Public Defender Morris Carranza argued that she was insane. In jail, she “played with feces and treated urine like holy water,” he says.

Her father was criminally insane. She, too, was diagnosed as being schizophrenic and suffering other mental illnesses.

“Darryl and Sharon Getman lost their lives to an act of unimaginable violence,” State Attorney Bill Gladson says in a statement. “Today, the jury made clear that their lives mattered, accountability matters, and justice does not forget. This defendant is now held responsible for her horrific crime.”

Carranza says jurors made the right decision, and says since being treated at a state hospital she has been “incredibly remorseful.”