A 53-year-old man is beginning a life sentence this evening for the murder of a widow pensioner in Kilkenny almost 30 years ago.
John Joe Malone, from Newpark in Kilkenny city, beat and strangled Nancy Smyth before setting her house on fire.
The 69-year-oldÂ’s body was found inside her burning home in the early hours of Sept 11th 1987.
It took nearly three decades for a major breakthrough that led to his prosecution, when a woman came forward with new evidence.
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
