A man accused of murdering his 71-year-old neighbour in Nottinghamshire so he could inherit her house, was asked by her to write her will, a court heard.
Hilda Owen was found dead at her home in Skegby in March 2007. She had been hit 29 times on the head with a claw-hammer and screwdriver.
Peter Smith, 44, of West Hill, Skegby, has denied murdering her.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that Mr Smith drew up the will for Mrs Owen a week before she was killed.
Mr Smith, who had claimed an allowance as her carer, ran screaming from the house when he saw her body covered in blood, the jury heard.
A week before she was killed he said the pensioner asked him to buy a do-it-yourself will and write it for her naming him as the sole beneficiary of her £70,000 property.
'Horrible sequence'
He later told police: "She wanted to give it over to me. What was I to say? No?"
But the court also heard that no-one witnessed Hilda Owen signing the will which Peter Smith admitted was "wrong".
In a series of police interviews read out to the court the defendant confirmed he was the last person to see her alive, the person who found her dead and the only person who knew she had signed the will.
An officer then asked him: "Prove you're not responsible for her death."
"I can't," Peter Smith replied, but then added: "I know exactly how it looks. It was all Hilda's idea to leave a will. I haven't killed Hilda. It was just a horrible sequence of events. "
The trial continues.
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