A pensioner has gone on trial at the High Court accused of murdering a woman in a house in Inverness.
Michael Taylor, 71, appeared in Edinburgh yesterday facing a charge of beating, stripping, biting and killing Elizabeth MacKay, who was also known as Muir, last year.
Taylor, whose address has been given as being a prisoner of HMP Inverness, also denies another charge which claims he stole a number of items from the house.
Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh have heard the contents of a legal document which details the charges against Taylor.
Prosecutors allege that between March 28 and March 31 last year, Taylor assaulted Elizabeth by seizing hold of her body and her hair at a house in the city’s Kintail Court.
It is claimed that Mr Taylor repeatedly punched her on the head and caused her to fall to the ground.
The Crown alleges that Taylor then repeatedly struck Elizabeth on the head and body with a “blunt” object before removing her clothing and handling her breasts.
Prosecutors also allege that Taylor bit her breast and that he “did murder her.”
The second charge alleges that at the same address on the same dates, Taylor searched through a handbag before stealing groceries, pots, cutlery and keys.
Taylor, who is represented by advocate Shelagh McCall QC, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Solicitor advocate David Taylor is presenting the crown case to jurors.
The trial, which is being heard before judge Michael O’Grady QC, continues.
Mother-of-one Miss Mackay has been described as “a very private woman, a bit of a loner”.
It is understood she had fallen out of touch with her family several years before her death.
The house had been the scene of a previous tragedy and had been occupied by Brian Grant, who was convicted in 2007 of murdering hairdresser Ilene O’Connor and burying her in the garden.
He was jailed in 2007 for a minimum of 14 years and remains in prison.
His 39-year-old victim, of Castle Heather Road, Inverness, had been missing for a fortnight before police discovered her body.
She had suffered serious head injuries, 26 rib fractures and a smashed breast bone.
Grant had punched, kicked and stamped on her.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Clarke said Grant had “shown no mercy” for his victim during the “savage and brutal” attack.
Medical experts said Miss O’Connor may have lain in a coma for up to two hours before Grant strangled her.
He stripped her, stole her rings and attempted to clean up the mess in his home, which was next door to where Ms O’Connor’s sick mother, Meg, stayed.