A drug addict who battered to death the elderly neighbour who had befriended her in a “wicked” and “horrific” attack has been found guilty of her murder.
Sandra Weir lashed out at pensioner Mary Logie in her own home in Leven, Fife, in January.
She had also been stealing from the 82-year-old to fund her drug habit.
Weir was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh, where Judge Michael O’Grady, QC, described the manner of Mrs Logie’s death as “breathtakingly wicked”.
Weir, 41, had denied the charges, lodging a special defence of alibi saying that she was elsewhere at the time.
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The trial heard that the pensioner had 31 injuries to her head and neck and died as a result of ‘’blunt force trauma’’ to her head, inflicted by a rolling pin or similar instrument.
Mrs Logie was pronounced dead at her Green Gates home on January 5.
The court heard that Weir had got close to Mrs Logie and had acted as her unofficial carer. It emerged that she had been a drug addict since she was in her 20s and had racked up debts.
Mr O’Grady told the court that Weir had attacked Mrs Logie, also known as Rae, at her home and later returned to the scene and “finished her off”. He said: “In these courts we do not weigh the worth of victims, nor should we. All life is precious.
“But, on the evidence before me, Rae Logie was a decent, kind, tolerant and harmless elderly woman. That you should have betrayed her trust is shocking enough. I have no doubt then you left her for dead and went about your business. Instead, you found she was still alive, and that you could not allow. And so, as she lay defenceless, you simply finished her off.”
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Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie, from Police Scotland’s major investigation team, said: “Sandra Weir is a callous and uncaring individual who regularly exploited Mary Logie for financial gain.
“She would use coercion to obtain cash and other items of value from Mary before ultimately subjecting her to a horrific attack which left the 82-year-old with fatal injuries.
“The level of violence inflicted upon Mary, coupled with the prolonged period of bullying and intimidation, demonstrated Weir’s complete disregard for the wellbeing of her victim.”
Weir will be sentenced next month at the same court.