A daughter of Maire Rankin, the 81-year-old Newry woman allegedly murdered in her home by her next door neighbour nearly three years ago told a court today she was not aware that her mother was worried about burglaries and other incidents in the area shortly before she was killed.
Brenda Rankin was answering questions from Peter Irvine, a lawyer for Dublin pharmacist Karen Walsh who has denied murdering Mrs Rankin on Christmas Eve 2008, at Belfast Crown Court.
Ms Rankin said she was not aware that her mother had expressed concerns about "a number of matters involving people from Eastern Europe" or that she had been worried about someone calling at her home on the Dublin Road in Newry purporting to be a window-cleaner.
Ms Rankin said she did not remember her mother saying she thought the caller was observing her in her home.
However, Ms Rankin said she did recall Karen Walsh (45) and her husband Peter Durkin helping her mother on a number of occasions. She said Mr Durkin had provided her with an electric heater after her boiler stopped working.
And she said Ms Walsh and her husband had alerted other neighbours after Mrs Rankin left her front door open one night.
But Ms Rankin said she was not aware that her mother had written a letter to Ms Walsh thanking her and her husband for their vigilance.
Ms Rankin said the accused and her husband had bought the house next door to her mother 18 months before the murder. She said they lived and worked in Dublin and only spent a few weekends in Newry. The witness said she had never met Ms Walsh.
Ms Rankin told the jury of seven women and five men how she broke the news of her mother's death to her brother Diarmuid after he arrived at the family home on Christmas morning 2008 from Omeath, Co Louth where he lived.
"I said I think somebody has killed Mummy," she told him.
Ms Walsh told police that she had gone into Mrs Rankin's home on Christmas Eve for a festive drink, bringing a bottle of vodka with her.
But another of Mrs Rankin's daughters Mairead McIlkerney said that her mother never drank spirits and only enjoyed a glass of wine with a meal or the occasional sherry. "She would have been horrified if we got drunk in the house. That was a taboo" she added.
Diarmuid Rankin said he had tried to persuade his mother not to spend Christmas Eve alone in her home, but rather to go to his sister's home. "I tried to convince her but she was adamant that she would get more rest in her own home," he added.
He said his mother had recovered well from a bout of flu. "Her humour and her spirits were excellent. She said she couldn't wait for Christmas Day," he said.
A brother-in-law found Mrs Rankin's naked body on the floor of her bedroom on Christmas morning.
The trial continues.