The jury in the Mary Logie murder trial has been shown images of a bloodstained rolling pin at her Leven home.
Sandra Weir, 41, is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh accused of murdering Mrs Logie at the pensioner’s home in Green Gates on January 5 this year.
Among the witnesses giving evidence on the first day of the trial was crime scene manager Detective Constable Scott Roxburgh.
The trial also heard from all three of Mrs Logie’s children and her daughter-in-law.
Mr Roxburgh told advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, for the prosecution, how he arrived at Mrs Logie’s home at about 4am on January 6 to find the pensioner lying dead on her living room floor.
“There was a substantial amount of blood on the female,” said Mr Roxburgh.
“There was medical equipment within the living room, which had been left by paramedics and I saw a bloodstained rolling pin on the three-seater sofa.”
Mr Roxburgh described the marble-effect rolling pin as being “heavy”.
A constable who was the among the first police officers to arrive at the scene, said he had been called to the address in Green Gates at around 8.40pm.
He was initially under the impression an elderly lady had suffered a fall but paramedics said her injuries were not consistent with a fall.
The jury was shown pictures from the crime scene, including a picture of the deceased.
Relatives of Mrs Logie, who had earlier given evidence, were spared viewing the images, which were not shown on court screens.
Her daughter Caryl Robertson, 55, who had flown from Australia to attend court, told the court Mrs Logie’s wallet containing £200 had gone missing when she was in Scotland during August and September last year.
She said having searched “everywhere” she left the house and when she returned Weir was there.
“When I came back Sandra was in the house and they had found the wallet,” she said.
She told Mr Prentice that the £200 was gone.
Mrs Logie’s daughter-in-law Theresa, 58, who is the wife of Derek Logie, choked back tears after telling the court that Mrs Logie could not afford to spend as much as she usually did at Christmas.
The jury heard that Mrs Logie would get “annoyed at herself” after discovering money had gone missing.
“She couldn’t afford things and she was worried that she kept losing money,” said the witness.
The daughter-in-law said Mrs Logie never left dishes lying in the sink.
“We used to joke that she would never go to bed without washing the dishes.”
She added that Mrs Logie would tell her family: “If I die during the night I don’t want the police coming in and saying what a dirty old so and so.”
Ronald Logie, 60, described how the family had given neighbour Sandra Weir a bottle of whisky for Christmas in the weeks before Weir allegedly killed the 82-year-old with a rolling pin.
The court heard Weir, 41, went to the shops for her elderly neighbour and helped look after her cat when she was away.
Mr Logie said it was decided it would be a good idea to bring Weir a Christmas present and she was given the bottle of whisky.
Weir’s QC Murray Macara asked Mr Logie is his mother spoke about Weir during their weekly telephone conversations.
“She was mentioned quite often in our weekly conversations,” said Mr Logie.
“Always favourably.”
The women lived just “seconds apart”, with doors on the same landing, and Weir had a key to Mrs Logie’s flat.
Mr Logie said his mother had become distressed during a visit to his Yorkshire home last Christmas, when two cards containing money were found to be missing.
He drove her back to her home in Green Gates on January 1 and there was a search for the cards.
“We searched high and low and could find no trace,” he said.
He also told the court that in June last year he found out his mother’s purse, which contained an ATM card and money she had withdrawn, had gone missing the day before she was to set off for a bus trip to Wales.
“Basically, she had withdrawn money for the holiday and that had been lost. She had no cash for the trip,” said Mr Logie.
Mr Logie said he made a three hour trip by car from Yorkshire to the hotel in Wales where she was staying to give his mother £120.
The hearing before Judge Michael O’Grady was told that Mr Logie lived at the home in Green Gates with the family from 1970 until 1981.
Since his father died around 1986, Mrs Logie had lived in the property alone.
He said despite suffering from arthritis and having mobility problems, his mother lived independently and enjoyed lunch outings and trips with friends.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, for the prosecution, asked the witness: “Did she appear lucid and alert?”
Mr Logie replied: “Absolutely, yes.”
He added that he believed his mother was careful about her finances.
Son Derek Logie said concerns about Mrs Logie losing money had first been raised around July last year.
He said the family had not had any concerns previously.
It is claimed Weir repeatedly struck Mr Logie on the head and body with a rolling pin “or similar instrument”.
Weir is further accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by cleaning blood at the property and disposing of clothing.
Prosecutors claim Weir, of Leven, stole from Mrs Logie on various occasions over a near six year period.
The indictment alleges she took a bank card or cards in the pensioner’s name.
She is also said to have stolen greeting cards containing money, cash, two rings as well as what is described as “correspondence”.
The charge states this occurred between April 2010 and the day of the alleged murder.
She faces another charge of using a bank card in Mrs Logie’s name to steal a total of £4,460.
A further allegation claims Weir fraudulently used a debit card to buy £314 of goods at a shop in Leven.
A separate fraud charge then claims she pretended to be authorised by the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity to collect cash for them.
Prosecutors also accuse her of possessing drugs and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Weir — also known as Gaughan — has lodged a special defence of alibi in connection with the murder charge.
* For more on this story see Tuesday’s Courier, also available as a digital edition.
