Prosecutors said Ramy Fahim targeted co-worker Griffin Cuomo, then killed roommate Jonathan Bahm during a 911 call.
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A workplace dispute over assignments and alleged micromanagement ended in two life without parole sentences for an Irvine man who killed his co-worker and the co-worker’s roommate.
Ramy Hany Mounir Fahim, 30, was sentenced May 13 for the April 19, 2022, deaths of Griffin Robert Cuomo and Jonathan Andrew Bahm, both 23. Prosecutors said Fahim’s anger at work became the motive for a planned attack at Cuomo’s Anaheim apartment. Fahim pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, admitted special circumstance allegations and was later found sane by a jury, defeating his claim that he was legally insane when the killings occurred.
The conflict began at Pence Wealth Management, an Orange County firm where Cuomo and Fahim worked together. Cuomo was a marketing and media assistant. Fahim was a research associate. Prosecutors said Fahim complained that Cuomo assigned him work he disliked and micromanaged him. Co-workers had become concerned about Fahim’s erratic behavior and poor hygiene in the office, according to accounts presented in court. The prosecution argued those workplace signs did not explain away the planning that followed.
On the night before the killings, Fahim went to Stadium House apartments in Anaheim, where Cuomo lived with Bahm. The complex is in the 2100 block of Katella Avenue near State College Boulevard, close to a busy part of the city around Angel Stadium and major roads. A building security guard encountered Fahim on the roof around midnight. Prosecutors said he remained at or near the complex for hours, waiting for the moment when Cuomo would leave for work. Fahim was later seen on the same floor as the victims’ apartment that morning.
The attack unfolded around 6:50 a.m. Anaheim police received a 911 call reporting an assault in progress. Prosecutors said Fahim ambushed Cuomo with a hunting dagger as Cuomo was leaving. The struggle carried back into the apartment, where Cuomo was stabbed repeatedly. Bahm, who was inside, fled to a bathroom and called 911. Fahim forced his way in and stabbed Bahm as he was still connected to the dispatcher. Officers arrived to find both roommates dead and Fahim still inside the apartment.
The violence against Bahm became a major part of the prosecution’s special circumstance case. Fahim admitted murder to avoid arrest as it related to Bahm’s killing, along with multiple murders and lying in wait. Prosecutors said Bahm was killed because he was a witness and because he had called for help. Fahim also admitted personally using a deadly weapon. Those admissions, paired with the sanity verdict, left Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer to impose two consecutive life terms without parole and two additional years for the weapon enhancements.
Prosecutors said the attack had an even darker plan behind it. They said Fahim intended to cut off Cuomo’s head and bury it somewhere, then leave Cuomo’s body to be taken away in a dumpster. They said a tarp and shovel found in Fahim’s car supported the claim that the killing was planned. They also cited writings and searches on Fahim’s computer about serial killers and victim selection. The alleged plan was not completed because Bahm was home and reached 911, turning the apartment into an active emergency scene.
Fahim’s defense centered on mental illness. He had entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, which required a separate decision about his state of mind even after the guilty plea. Defense attorney Marlin Stapleton Jr. argued that Fahim’s history of mental illness warranted a lower sentence or concurrent terms. Prosecutors countered that the facts showed a person who understood access, timing, concealment and witness elimination. Jurors agreed with the state and found Fahim sane at the time of the murders.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the apartment attack was not an act of insanity. He said Fahim waited on the roof for hours so he could ambush Cuomo and then “execute a witness” in the hope of escaping responsibility. Spitzer said mental illness defenses should not be used by defendants who were legally sane when they committed violent crimes. His comments framed the case as one where mental health evidence existed, but did not meet the legal threshold that would change the outcome.
At sentencing, the focus shifted to the lives lost. Cuomo and Bahm had met through Chapman University and remained friends after graduating. Their families and friends described them as young men with full lives and strong ties. Bahm was remembered for kindness. Cuomo was remembered for curiosity and energy. Robert Cuomo, Griffin’s father, struggled to read his victim impact statement in court and broke down as he described the moment he learned his son had been killed.
Fahim apologized in a short statement before the judge imposed sentence. He said he felt bad and wished he could change what he had done. Paer said the facts required the strongest punishment available under the law. He rejected the request for a sentence that could allow parole or for the life terms to run at the same time. The final judgment means Fahim will not have a parole hearing for the murders of Cuomo and Bahm.
Fahim is now under two consecutive life without parole sentences, with no further trial dates pending in the murder case. The case leaves a clear legal record: a workplace grievance, a planned wait at an apartment complex, a 911 call from a trapped roommate, a guilty plea and a rejected insanity claim.
Author note: Last updated June 2, 2026.