A jury has today found a 53-year-old woman guilty of murdering her half-sister in Letchworth while disguised as a man.
The seven men and five women unanimously found Yvonne Caylor guilty of killing half-sister Nicola ‘Nicki’ Collingbourne, who died in her Letchworth home on May 23 after being hit over the head with a chicken-shaped casserole pot.
Caylor, of Grove Road in Hitchin, had tried to disguise herself as a man using clothes from a Baldock fancy dress shop and wearing a wig, fake goatee beard and heavy-framed glasses.
The jury took just over seven hours to reach their verdict after prosecutor John Price QC had told Luton Crown Court that Caylor’s motive was to stop Nicki giving evidence against her after the defendant was charged with burglary at Nicki’s flat in Ivel Court, Letchworth, and perverting the course of justice.
Caylor had denied committing the burglary, which Mr Price said she carried out with the aid of a locksmith the day after Nicki evicted her from the flat in October 2015.
The case was listed for trial some time in the eight weeks starting on May 23 – the day Nicki was murdered.
Caylor, who had denied having anything to do with her half-sister’s death, is now expected to be sentenced tomorrow or Wednesday.
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