Ambler woman pleads guilty but mentally ill in stabbing death of grandmother

Nicole Cadwalader broke down Monday in a Norristown courtroom, offering a tearful apology to the judge, to her mother, and, most important, to her grandmother.

She said she will always miss her — a stark contrast from the first statements she made to police almost two years ago.

Cadwalader, 32, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in the stabbing and beating death of her grandmother Sharon Burke, with whom she shared a home in Ambler. Montgomery County Judge Thomas C. Branca sentenced Cadwalader to 12½ to 25 years in state prison and stipulated she must continue her mental-health treatment throughout her incarceration and upon her release.

Her attorney, Carrie Allman, said the negotiated plea was an appropriate resolution for Cadwalader, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

“She’s incredibly remorseful, now that she understands what happened,” Allman said after the hearing Monday. “We have Nicole, who is going to spend years in state prison, her grandmother, who died under horrible circumstances, and you have Nicole’s mother, who lost her own mother and who has a daughter that needs serious treatment.”

Cadwalader told police in 2018 she believed Burke was a “wretched, evil woman,” according to court documents. She said she stabbed Burke, 68, in the neck with a steak knife to “cut her windpipe” and hit her in the head repeatedly with a frying pan and baseball bat.

After the attack, believing her grandmother was dead, Cadwalader told police she left the home to go to a friend’s place. She returned to find that Burke had dragged herself into a bedroom, where she lay lifeless, according to the documents. It was then that Cadwalader walked to the police department to tell what she had done.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Bradbury Jr., the lead prosecutor on the case, commended Ambler police for their handling of the case.

“They acted very carefully and appropriately, especially at first, when they were unsure what they were dealing with,” Bradbury said. “They handled it well, and worked with county detectives to build a strong case.”

Cadwalader was ruled competent to stand trial last May, but both sides agreed on the plea deal, which Bradbury said he believed would serve the dual purpose of acknowledging the seriousness of the crime and giving her the treatment she needs.

“This is a tragic case,” he said. “We evaluated a number of factors in making this decision, and it seemed to ultimately be the best way to resolve this case, for her and her family.”