Georgina Edmonds murder accused was 'manipulative'
A man accused of murdering a pensioner with a rolling pin in Hampshire has been described by prosecutors as "manipulative and devious".
Georgina Edmonds, 77, was found stabbed and beaten to death in her kitchen in Brambridge, Eastleigh, in January 2008.
Matthew Hamlen, 33, of Bishopstoke, who denies murder, tried to set up a false alibi, prosecutors have claimed.
Michael Bowes QC said Mr Hamlen hoped two friends would provide one, despite him not having known them at the time.
Jurors at Winchester Crown Court had previously heard a secret police recording of Mr Hamlen talking to his mother, Linda Manning, while he was in police custody.
He told her he might have an alibi and that he remembered a conversation where one of his friends, Sarah Wrigley, had said he was at a party at her house.
During the recording, Mrs Manning was heard agreeing with Mr Hamlen to visit Ms Wrigley, but earlier in the trial Ms Wrigley said she had not known Mr Hamlen at the time of the murder.
Referring to the conversation, Mr Bowes said: "What you did was extremely manipulative and devious."
He said "there could never, ever have been any honest conversation" about an alibi for January 11th because Mr Hamlen had yet to meet Ms Wrigley.
Mr Hamlen told the court the alibi had only been mentioned in a private conversation between him and his mother.
He said: "At no point was that put forward to police."
He said he could not remember dates from four years ago or what he was doing on the day Mrs Edmonds died, but denied trying to establish a false alibi.
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard Mrs Edmonds was stabbed several times with a knife by her killer, who tortured her to force her to reveal her bank card Pin number.
She was also hit over the head with a marble rolling pin from the kitchen where her body was found.
The prosecution alleges Mr Hamlen was captured on CCTV wearing a hooded fluorescent jacket trying to use her debit card at an ATM in Eastleigh and he was forensically linked to the rolling pin.
The trial continues.