Sophie Evans killing: Partner’s father guilty of Llanelli murder

The jury saw an exchange between Jones and his ex-partner, Tracey Thompson, in which he called his son, Jamie Davies, and Ms Evans “scamming thieves” and said he had “taken care of the problem”.

In psychiatrist interviews after his arrest, he said he believed he had been “tricked” out of the deeds for his mother’s house by his son and Ms Evans.

During police interviews, Jones told officers his “head went” over the “scam” and he was “erratic”.

He said he remembered going to Ms Evans’ house on the morning of the murder to look at drains at the property, adding he “lost his head” when she said “nothing” about the “scam”.

Jones then said he did not remember anything about the attack, except being “down the country park” hours later.

David Elias, defending Jones, said his client’s thoughts about being scammed were “falsely held beliefs” caused by a delusional disorder.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Dilum Jayawickrama, who interviewed the accused, said Jones was “100% certain in his beliefs” he had been scammed.

The court heard Jones told officers he had been taken to a solicitor’s office by Ms Evans to sign forms, leading him to believe he had signed over the deeds to his mother’s house.

“There is not a single shred of evidence to say that was true,” said Mr Elias.

Mike Jones, prosecuting, said Jones “was not experiencing significant emotional distress” at the time of the murder and showed “callous indifference” to what he did to her.

Mr Jones told the jury the defendant had “by his own admission, a historic short fuse”, and on the day of the incident “had lost his temper, attacked Sophie and strangled her, causing her death”.

Judge Geraint Walters said the only sentence the court could pass was life imprisonment.

Jones will be sentenced on 3 March.