Prosecutor Peter Joyce QC told the 12-man-jury trying Smith that the accused's obsession with getting Hilda to make a will was the key issue in the whole case.

Smith (44), of West Hill, denies battering Hilda to death in her living room between 26th Feburay and 1st March 2007, just days after he was made heir to her possessions.

Mr Joyce told the jury: "Why Hilda made a will is what lies at the heart of this trial. Mrs Owen did not want to make a will her own solicitor and Adam Dixon (Smith's former lover) both made it clear she did not want one. The only person who said she wanted a will is Smith.

"He has lied and he was determined to get this woman to leave him everything. It became an obsession for him, he was massiveley in debt, he needed this will and he needed the legacy. He could not afford to have her alive so he killed her.

"He has lied to the police, to his friends and to the jury. When you put the whole picture together the image in the middle of your jigsaw with the title murderer of Hilda Owen is Peter Smith."

But summing up the defence case Paul Mann QC told the court the police had got the wrong man.

"It is inevitable that Peter Smith would be the police's first suspect.

"He had been a recent beneficiary and had drawn up Hilda's will. That would raise suspicion in anyone's books," he said.

"He has made no secret of the will throughout and there is no motive. Peter Smith did not have good finances, but they were far from dire.

"He had a good credit rating with no refusals or defaults. Yes, he had difficulties and was worried about his future. By February things were improving and he was breaking even.

"There is no evidence that he would have a need or be so desperate to kill her off. He would not kill her knowing that the police would come straight to his door.

"If, as the crown say, he was milking Hilda for all he could get it would have been much safer to keep her alive and take her money than kill he off. The police do not always get their man."

The jury are expected to be sent out to return their verdict on Wednesday afternoon.