Glynis Solmaz murder: Alexandros Wetherill jailed for life
A man has been jailed for life with a minimum 25 years for the murder of a Wrexham woman during a burglary.
Alexandros Wetherill, 24, of Wrexham, was convicted of killing Glynis Solmaz, 65, by a majority verdict after a retrial at Mold Crown Court on Thursday, and sentenced on Friday.
Three other men were also jailed after they pleaded guilty to conspiring to burgle Ms Solmaz's home.
Ms Solmaz's family called her death "unbearable".
Wetherill had admitted manslaughter but denied murder.
Another man, Christopher Curran, 34, was cleared of murder during the trial last month but that jury could not agree in Wetherill's case.
Both Wetherill and Curran, along with Ms Solmaz's former son-in-law Christopher Natt, 52, and David Lovell, 29 - both of Wrexham - pleaded guilty to conspiring to burgle her home.
Curran received four years, Lovell received 32 months and Natt received three years.
Mr Justice Royce told Wetherill "you showed her no pity that night".
He described Natt, Mrs Solmaz's fomer son-in-law, as "despicable".
In a statement read outside Mold Crown Court after sentencing on Friday, the family of Ms Solmaz said: "Our beautiful mum loved life, adored her family and liked and loved by many."
The statement, read by Det Insp Mark Hughes, who led the murder investigation, went on to say: "She has been taken too soon and our lives quite simply will never be the same.
"The sheer loss along with the dreadful circumstances are simply unbearable.
"We can only hope we can now find some peace and closure."
Mr Hughes said that the police could only imagine what the family had been through for the last nine months.
"I hope this now gives them closure and allows them to move forward," he said.
The court was told that Ms Solmaz, who was choked to death, put up a fight when Wetherill burgled her home on the Caia Park Estate in February believing she had £40,000 in cash in a bedroom safe.
A post mortem examination by Home Office pathologist Dr Jonathan Medcalf revealed her injuries were consistent with "significant and prolonged" pressure to the neck.
The prosecution said that had been done by Wetherill to subdue her, while Curran tried to remove the safe.
That was eventually done by Wetherill, but he had to get a lift from the burglary scene by Lovell, because Curran had left the scene in his vehicle.
The court heard there was about £10,000 and some jewellery in the safe.