A man who pleaded guilty to stabbing retired nurse Alyson Nelson to death over her new relationship will spend at least 20 years in prison before being considered for parole.
Mr Justice O'Hara told William Finlay that was the minimum period he would spend behind bars before he was eligible to apply to the Parole Commissioners to be released from custody on a life licence which was handed down today.
Finlay, 68, of Old Forde Gardens, Whitehead, Co Antrim, had previously pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to murdering Ms Nelson on 16 April, 2022.
Ms Nelson was stabbed seven times in less than a minute in her Whitehead home by Finlay and the offence was aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse.
It was the prosecution case that after meeting online, Finlay and Ms Nelson, 64, started a relationship in December 2018 which ended 18 months before he killed her.
In April 2022, Ms Nelson was in a new relationship - and the court heard it was Finlay's jealousy which prompted his actions on the evening of Saturday, April 16, 2022.
Finlay - who spent 25 years in the Navy - was captured on her ring doorbell footage entering Ms Nelson's Victoria Avenue home.
Around 60 seconds later, he was again captured exiting her home - and whilst leaving, he was seen wiping a knife with a cloth then walking up the street
Crown barrister David McDowell KC revealed that on the day she was murdered, Ms Nelson and her new partner had been out in a local pub enjoying drinks before Finlay arrived in the bar.
CCTV footage from the bar showed the former couple engaged in a brief conversation. A short time after this, Ms Nelson left the bar on her own and went home.
At around 6pm, a worker in a chip shop opposite Ms Nelson's home noticed a hooded man, dressed all in black, entering her home.
Mr McDowell said this same woman then heard what she described as a "massive scream that seemed to go on forever".
She then saw the same male leaving the house and as he had his hood down. She said she recognised him as William Finlay and thought he had a knife in his hand
Believing the screaming was from Ms Nelson, the woman and a colleague crossed the road and wrapped Ms Nelson's door.
The prosecutor said that after the woman managed to open the door, she found Ms Nelson lying facedown in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
At this stage she was breathing and had a weak pulse.
Emergency services, including the Air Ambulance NI, were called.
Ms Nelson was unresponsive when they arrived at the scene and started administering first aid at 6.20pm.
Mr McDowell said: "All efforts were made to revive her, but to no avail. A doctor from the air ambulance pronounced life was extinct at 6.40pm."
Police were directed to Finlay's address and as they approached his door, they saw Finlay with a bottle of cleaning fluid in his hand.
The court previously heard that when he saw police, Finlay said: "It's me you're looking for. I'm here."
He was arrested and a number of items including blood-stained clothing and shoes, gloves and a cloth were located in his property.
The murder weapon, which was taken from a knife block in his kitchen, was also recovered.
Whilst being taken to Antrim Police Station, Finlay told police "I'm not going to deny anything".
During an interview that evening, Finlay described the deceased as his friend, said he had been in her home before doing DIY and claimed the last time time he had seen her was a month before.
Accepting he had been in the pub that afternoon, Finlay denied any wrongdoing and instead claimed that after leaving, he went home where he watched TV.
The court previously heard that during an interview the following day, he adopted a 'no comment' response to questions and claimed a wound on his hand was due to cutting himself opening a tin of peas.
Mr McDowell said it appeared Finlay was "unable to accept his relationship with Ms Nelson was over" and that he was "very jealous" of her new relationship.
In his sentencing remarks today, Mr Justice O'Hara said Mrs Nelson was a retired nurse and the daughter of a midwife.
She cared for her mother in her final years.
Mr Justice O'Hara today referred to victim impact statements which were provided by Mrs Nelson's two daughters on behalf of the family.
They describe in detail how caring their mother was, showing a kindness to complete strangers and being constantly bubbling with life. She was a nurse for many years before ill health forced her retirement.
"Explaining her to murder to her brother was one of the most traumatic aspects of this whole nightmare for Mrs Nelson's children.
"Mrs Nelson's role in the Whitehead community was illustrated after her death by the hundreds of people who came out on the streets to support her family to show their horror at what had been done to her.
"Her family's loss is immeasurable. They have lost a beloved mother and a grandmother. She is no longer around to spoil her grandchildren or even to see and hold the youngest one Joseph who was born in August after her death.
"Birthdays and Christmases will never be the same again for them.''
Mr Justice O'Hara said Finlay had been married twice before and he had a conviction in 1999 for assaulting his first wife and a daughter along with a conviction in 2002 for harassing his first wife and assaulting her.
There was another entry on his record for assaulting a complete stranger by apparently biting his ear in 2002.
The senior judge said Finlay has given no explanation for murdering Mrs Finlay, claiming he did not recall what he did.
Mr Justice O'Hara remarked: "I have no reason to believe that claim. The defendant did not just plead guilty to murder. He pleaded guilty to murder 'aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse' under Section 15 of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act 2021.
"In light of the 2021 Act, I must treat the domestic abuse aspect as an aggravating factor which increases the seriousness of the murder.....''
He said it was clear the murder was "premeditated'' as Finlay had a pair of latex gloves and a knife "to hand or in his car'' to carry out the brutal attack.
"No innocent reason has been advanced for him having the gloves and the knife so readily available. The only possible inference is that at some point before he went to the bar that day he had decided to attack Mrs Nelson if and when he got the chance to do so.
"When that chance presented itself, because she went home to let her dogs out, he took it. It was the opposite of a spontaneous act committed in the heat of an emotional moment.''
The judge said other aggravating factors were that the attack was "sustained'' involving multiple stab wounds to Mrs Nelson's face, arms, chest and back.
"Mrs Nelson was not just physically smaller, but she was also vulnerable in the sense that she was in her own home where should have felt safe.''
The judge noted that Finlay "was trying to clean up the evidence when he was arrested by the police and had already cleaned the knife''.
Mr Justice O'Hara said the defendant's previous domestic abuse conviction showed he had a "willingness to attack and inflict injury on partners, past or present''.
As Mrs Nelson's family relatives listened to the tariff proceedings from the public gallery, they heard the judge say he found Finlay's expressions of remorse through his counsel Gary McHugh KC as "deeply unconvincing''.
Finally, Mr Justice O'Hara said the murder was motivated, on the defendant's case, by jealousy of Mrs Nelson having started a new relationship.
"I am struck by the premeditation in this case and when he got his chance to murder, he seized it mercilessly.
"I am also struck by the extremity of what he did in light of the fact of the limited relationship with Mrs Nelson was comparatively short lived and that 18 months had then passed for him to recover from any disappointment or hurt caused by the fact that it had ended.''
The judge said that after taking all factors into account, he considered the minimum term for the defendant to spend in custody would be 23 years.
However, Mr Justice O'Hara said he would give Finlay a discount for his guilty plea and reduced the sentence to one of 20 years, adding: "Only when that term has been served will the Parole Commissioners consider whether he should be released from jail.''
Addressing the victim's relatives in court, the judge said: "It may not seem to Mrs Nelson's family and friends that a guilty plea in the present case deserves any credit when the case against the defendant was overwhelming.
"However, a guilty plea is of value for at least two reasons. One is that it allows the family to hear the defendant have to accept his guilty openly and publicly.
"The second is that it saves the family from the ordeal of having to give evidence or hear others give evidence about the terrible events of April 2022,'' added Mr Justice O'Hara.
