Karen Walsh can introduce fresh evidence, the Court of Appeal rules
A pharmacist jailed for murdering her neighbour can introduce fresh evidence as part of a bid to clear her name.
Maire Rankin, 81, was found dead at her home in Newry, County Down, on Christmas Day 2008.
Karen Walsh was later found guilty of her murder.
The Court of Appeal ruled her lawyers can introduce evidence to support claims someone else may have been in the victim's home shortly after she was killed.
Senior judges granted permission on Thursday for Ms Walsh's legal team to rely on expert opinion that three telephone calls made to Mrs Rankin's house within 45 minutes of the latest estimated time of her death were probably answered.
Lawyers for Ms Walsh, 48, argue that the material was not properly made available at her trial and could undermine the prosecution case.
She is seeking to overturn her conviction for murdering Mrs Rankin in the early hours of Christmas Day 2008.
The 81-year-old victim was found dead in the bedroom of her Dublin Road home.
Mrs Rankin, a devout Catholic, had suffered up to 15 broken ribs and been beaten with a crucifix given to her as a wedding gift.
Evidence of a sexual assault - thought to have been carried out to cover the killer's tracks - was also discovered.
Ms Walsh is currently serving a minimum 20-year prison sentence.
She had worked in Dublin but often stayed at a house she owned next door to the victim.
During her trial, the prosecution claimed she arrived at Mrs Rankin's home already drunk and with a bottle of vodka.
It was alleged that the mother-of-one then flew into a rage and attacked the pensioner after being chastised about her drinking and told to go home to her young son.
Despite being found guilty of murder Ms Walsh has continued to protest her innocence.
As part of her appeal defence lawyers have obtained a telecommunications expert whose opinion is that three calls to Mrs Rankin's in a 15-minute period either side of 10:00 GMT on Christmas morning were answered.
Ms Walsh's lawyer contended that the phone records held within a police intelligence unit were not properly disclosed at trial.
Seeking permission to have the material admitted into the appeal, he claimed it potentially undermined the prosecution case that no-one but his client was in the victim's home that morning.
A prosecuting lawyer claimed the new evidence was of no help to Ms Walsh because it was impossible to prove whether the calls were answered.
He said that the victim's daughter Brenda gave evidence at trial about making several calls to her mother that morning that went unanswered.
Calling for the defence to spell out their case, the prosecution lawyer said: "What exactly are you alleging? You can't just float things and say that looks very mysterious."
Responding to his query, appeal court judge Lord Justice Gillen said: "Somebody was in the house other than the accused and could that person have been the person responsible for the murder? That's what their case is."
The three judges, headed by Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, ruled that it was in the interests of justice to admit the evidence.
With the telecommunications expert now due to testify at the appeal later this month, Sir Declan said: "As matters stand the (his) evidence needs to take into account the trial evidence, including that of Brenda Rankin that she made a call at or about the material time which was not answered.
"If there's no challenge to that, as there is not at this stage, the expert will have to deal with that as a fact which is an accepted fact."