A woman has been found guilty of murder after she “savagely” beat her partner’s elderly father to death.
Danielle Lee Birchall faced two murder trials over the death of Kon Kritikos, 87, in November 2020.
He was found badly beaten on the floor of his Coburg property, in Melbourne’s north, by his son George and Birchall, on November 11.
The couple found him lying on floorboards in the hallway, moaning but still semi-conscious.
George asked his father “who did it?” to which he replied “afti, afti, afti” meaning “she did it”.
Mr Kritikos was taken to hospital but died from his injuries about two weeks later.
Birchall was charged with murder but pleaded not guilty and first faced trial in July 2023, but the jury was discharged after about a month.
A fresh trial began in early October, with jurors told Birchall had “savagely beaten” the vulnerable Mr Kritikos in his own home with a weapon and left a “bloodied mess” behind, including her own footprints.
She told a series of lies after the murder as she tried to cover up what had happened, prosecutor Sarah Thomas said in her closing arguments.
“Danielle Birchall, and no one else, caused Kon’s death,” she said.
Her defence accepted the elderly man was killed but argued it was not Birchall who committed the murder.
The jury retired on November 6 to deliberate, with 12 jurors returning with a guilty verdict on Tuesday morning.
Birchall sighed and started shaking after hearing the verdict.
She was taken back into custody and will return to court on February 18 for a pre-sentence hearing.
Justice Christopher Beale thanked the jury for their service and excused them from being called again for 10 years.
Source: AAP