A British cleaning woman was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison Monday for killing an 82-year-old friend for his life savings. The sentence was imposed on Ann Browning, 54, after a three-day hearing in Guildford Crown Court, the Daily Express reported. She admitted killing Bill Williamson but said it was an unpremeditated act carried out in a burst of anger.
"May God forgive your soul," she yelled at Judge Christopher Critchlow after bursting into tears.
Prosecutors argued that Browning convinced Williamson, a retired postmaster, to sell his home for 246,000 pounds (almost $400,000) and to move in with her in Godalming, Surrey. Williamson was killed with a bat used in rounders, a game similar to baseball, and then buried in Browning's back garden.
After his death, she told his friends he had moved into assisted living and spent much of his money.
Critchlow called the crime "the wicked murder of a vulnerable old man."
"Mr. Williamson was a lonely man whose yearning for companionship sadly led him into the clutches of Ann Browning," Detective Inspector Juliet Parker said. "She is a devious, calculating and callous individual whose greed led to this wicked crime."
