A woman accused of bludgeoning her elderly neighbour to death claimed "I could not have been any nicer to Mrs Rankin", a court has heard.
Giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court on her own behalf, Dublin pharmacist 45-year-old Karen Walsh further claimed that when she left the home of Maire Rankin in the early hours of Christmas Day 2008, her breathing was wheezy but "she was fine in that she was still alive".
Asked if at any stage while she was visiting her 81-year-old neighbour had she assaulted her, sexually assaulted her, had an argument with her or went back in to attack her, Walsh told defence lawyer Peter Irvine: "No I did not...I could not have been any nicer to Mrs Rankin."
Walsh, originally from Galway but with an address on the Dublin Road in Newry, denies murdering her next door neighbour.
The jury have already heard it is the Crown case that Walsh beat her to death, thrust Christ's crown of thorns into her face and sexually assaulted her and that she is linked to the scene, the crucifix and Mrs Walsh's body by DNA evidence.
The trial continues.
