A CLEANER who murdered her elderly client by beating her with a walking stick and stabbing her texted her husband about the horror act.
Hanny Papanicolaou jumped the back fence of Majorie Welsh’s home in Sydney before beating and stabbing the 92-year-old on January 2, 2019.
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An Aussie court found the 39-year-old woman guilty of murder in February and recently sentenced her to 22 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 15 years.
The court heard how the deranged killer sent her husband a series of texts after beating Majorie with her own walking stick and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.
“Please, I’m going to die, I think it’s better for me,” one message read.
“You’ll never believe me anymore, please please. You will never you will not believe me forever. Better I die. Please take care of the kids, I’m sick with this life. Sorry, deep of my heart,” read a second.
Justice Robertson Wright said the murder was “unplanned and impulsive” and that Papanicolaou was a chronic gambler who intended to rob Majorie when she broke into the property.
He said that Papanicolaou had spent $430 (£243) at the slot machines just 15 minutes away at a nearby club before driving to her victim’s home and jumping the fence.
“After parking, Papanicolaou crossed the park and climbed over the back fence of Ms Welsh’s property and into the backyard,” he said.
“The offender also hit Ms Welsh in the head, face, chest and arm with decorative ceramic bowls or plates which had been on display on shelves in Ms Welsh’s kitchen.
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“Papanicolaou also stabbed Ms Welsh in the lower chest and abdomen about six times with a knife taken from the cutlery drawer in the kitchen during part of the attack.”
The 92-year-old was able to activate her alert necklace, causing Papanicolaou to flee before emergency services arrived.
The elderly woman was taken to hospital for emergency surgery but sadly died six weeks later.
During that time, she gave two police interviews in hospital where she named her attacker as “Hanny the housekeeper” and described the “utterly ferocious” attack in detail.
When asked if she could think of the reason for the attack, Majorie replied: “It would be a peace of mind if I could.”
She added: “There are usually logical reasons for things that happen in this world, but I cannot see any logic in this.”
Justice Wright struck down claims Papanicolaou was suffering from a major depressive illness at the time of the attack but did say she had some symptoms of anxiety and depression.
“The death was a great human tragedy especially for her family and for all others affected by this sad matter,” he said.
Angela MacLeod, one of Majorie’s two daughters, said her mother was someone who could achieve anything she wanted in life.
“Life wasn’t always perfect for mum… but she was strong, intelligent, loving, protective, all those things that you’d want in a mum. We were always very proud of her,” she said.
The judge said Majorie had been taken away from her girls in a way they found unthinkable and inexplicable.
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