The Murder of Maureen Cosgrove

At his trial, held in early November 2009 at London's Old Bailey, prosecutor Anthony Glass took the jury through the details of the case and urged them to interpret his "prayer" as a confession to murder.

"He provides in those words the motive or reason for the killing," Glass said. "Clearly, relations between the defendant and the grandmother had seriously deteriorated. With her out of the way, the defendant could see a future for himself, Lucy, her children and the unborn baby unencumbered by any constraints imposed by Maureen Cosgrove."

Glass pointed out that the cause of death was asphyxia.

"What he did was to put a ligature around her neck and squeeze the life out of her," Glass added. "No one has seen him do it, which is often the case in murder. The evidence against him amounts to a series of compelling facts and circumstances, many of which are not in dispute, which when taken together add up to a formidable case against him."