Man on trial over rape, robbery, and murder of pensioner Published on Tuesday 12 June 2012 17:26 A young man has gone on trial accused of raping, robbing and murdering a pensioner in her own home. Kevin Rooney, 26, is accused of attacking 74-year-old Rosina Sutherland, who suffered from mild dementia, at her house in Edinburgh last year. He is alleged to have killed her after ransacking her home in Longstone, sexually assaulting her, repeatedly hitting her on the head and body and compressing her throat, restricting her breathing. And Rooney, who is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen, is accused of robbing the OAP of money, keys and a walking stick during the alleged incident on October 29. Today Rosina Sutherland's son-in-law described how he found Rosina's body lying in her sheltered housing bungalow the day after her death. Robert Iannelli, 45, said he was contacted by a security firm to say an alarm had been sounding at Rose's home and no movement had been detected by a sensor for some time. He said he went to the house and let himself in after discovering the door was unlocked and found the usually tidy house had been "trashed." Mr Iannelli said he then went to the bedroom and discovered Rose's corpse lying with a towel folded neatly over her face. He said: "I saw a pair of bare feet. She was down the side of the bed at my feet. There was a big white towel over her body and as I looked further up there was a smaller, dark brown towel which had been neatly folded. It was over her head. I lifted the towel and I saw Rose's face and I put the back of my hand against her neck to see if she was still warm. I put it back on her head. I just knew there was something wrong. Something inside me just said don't touch anything, put everything back and get out the house. I phoned my wife Theresa. I just said "your mum's dead." I said something was wrong - the house had been trashed. One of Rose's other daughters, Jane Sutherland, 48, wept as she told the jury about the last time she saw her mum alive - on the day she died. She also said the OAP, who had loved cats and was an Elvis fan, had kept a very clean home and said it had been tidy when she left her mum that afternoon. She said: "We talked about Christmas. She was happy. I gave her a cuddle and told her I loved her. Alan Cowe, a senior identification officer for the Scottish Police Authority, carried out a forensic investigation of the bungalow after the pensioner's body was discovered. He told the court that a mobile phone, tobacco and a library card with the accused's name printed on it were found inside a dark Adidas jacket and jogging bottoms found close to the body. He also said a footprint found on a broken picture frame matched that of a trainer later seized from the accused. Mr Cowe said he examined the OAP's body at the scene and said she was found in a state of semi-undress. He said: "The suspender tabs appeared to have been torn from the girdle and were attached to the stocking." Rose's daughter Teresa Iannelli said she had planned to take her mum to buy a new bed on the day she was informed she had died and said the pensioner had withdrawn the cash she needed - £1200 - on two separate occasions previously. She said her mum had been very generous and often filled charity bags full of newly-bought items rather than give away used belongings. The office manager, 44, said of her mum's attitude to money: "She would give it away before she would keep it to herself." Mrs Iannelli said she had worried about security at her mum's home and would often lock her inside at night because she didn't have the strength to work the security handle on her own. She said she often found her mum had placed step ladders up against the door in a bid to secure it. Rooney faces another charge of trying to sell cannabis at the Longstone Inn on the same date. He denies the allegations. The trial, before Lady Dorrian, continues.