Joseph Greer, 40, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years for the murder of his partner, Samantha Lee, in Aberdeen. The High Court in Dundee heard that Greer attacked the 54-year-old mother-of-three with a claw hammer between January 1 and 4 this year, causing catastrophic head injuries from which she died.
Details of the attack
Ms Lee's body was discovered in the kitchen of a property on Bedford Road on January 4 after an acquaintance raised the alarm. She had last been heard from on January 1. Greer pleaded guilty to murder and to a separate charge of assaulting Ms Lee to her severe injury in October last year on an Aberdeen street.
During sentencing, Lord Renucci said that forensic evidence indicated Greer repeatedly struck Ms Lee on the head and body with a claw hammer or similar implement, continuing the assault while she lay defenceless on the ground. The judge noted that Greer claimed no recollection of the murder despite accepting responsibility.
Impact on the family
Lord Renucci stated that Greer had deprived three adult children of their mother. He described domestic abuse as a scourge on society and said it was difficult to imagine a worse example than Greer's actions towards Ms Lee.
Ms Lee's family said: “No verdict can ever bring her back or erase the pain, grief, and loss our family has experienced. Our mum was a loving, caring, and valued person whose life was taken from us far too soon.”
Legal proceedings
Greer was banned from approaching or contacting Ms Lee at the time of the murder, having been granted bail with special conditions following the October assault. That earlier assault involved Greer repeatedly striking Ms Lee with a telephone handset in the street, which Lord Renucci described as a prolonged, sustained and vicious attack. He sentenced Greer to five years for that assault, to run concurrently with the murder sentence.
Laura Buchan, legal director at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “Joseph Greer carried out a brutal and sustained attack on Samantha Lee before failing to raise the alarm. This is a tragic case where domestic abuse escalated to murder.”
