Helen Levina guilty of murdering mother and burying body under dog bed in Perth backyard

[Guest Nicole]

A 57-year-old Perth woman is facing a life jail term after being found guilty of murdering her elderly mother and burying her body in a shallow hole in the back yard of their home, in a crime that prosecutors said was motivated by "palpable dislike and hatred".

Helen Levina was found guilty by a Supreme Court jury of inflicting fatal injuries to 76-year-old Ella Hromaya, whose decomposing body was found in bizarre circumstances in March last year.

The two women lived at the South Guildford house with Levina's daughter. After coming home early one afternoon, the daughter let the family's four dogs outside and later found one of them, a great dane, licking her grandmother's skull.

The daughter, who can not be identified, immediately called police who found Ms Hromaya's body partially buried behind two wheelie bins, with a crate and a dog bed on top.

It was alleged at her Supreme Court trial that Levina, who was her mother's official carer, had murdered her on February 22, before putting the body in the grave and pouring bleach over it to speed up decomposition.

Also found in the grave were a knife and a pair of scissors, while a second knife was found in one of the wheelie bins.

A post mortem examination found two injuries to Ms Hromaya's head and multiple stab wounds to her legs.

Relationship soured

Prosecutor David Davidson said the motivation for the crime was the "palpable dislike and hatred" Levina had for her mother, a "small, frail woman", who the court heard had lived with her and her family on and off for about 40 years.

The jury heard from a neighbour who testified that about six months before the murder, Levina had said to him:

"I have my mother living with me. I can't stand the f***ing b****. I want to kill her."

In his closing address to the jury, Mr Davidson highlighted Levina's two video recorded interviews with police in which he said she described her mother as "it", and said that during her 24 years of marriage she would "just show up like a bad smell".

Levina told detectives "there was always tension in the house" and readily admitted she wanted her mother to move out, saying "I just didn't want to see her".

In the interviews, Levina claimed the last time she saw her mother was when she left the house with two Jehovah's Witnesses who had visited her before.

She said the two came to the door and her mother, who was in her pyjamas, said to her "I'm ready".

Levina said she asked, "Ready for what?" and her mother replied, "They're taking me to the place I'm going to live".

Levina claimed she then saw her mother pack up everything, "including her winter pyjamas," and leave.

She said she had not heard from, or seen, her since.

There was evidence that Ms Hromaya had, through the Department of Housing, secured new accommodation and she had been due to collect the keys on February 23, but the court was told she did not show up.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/helen-levina-accused-murder-of-mother-buried-backyard-trial/9200874