Three teenage girls used Facebook to plan a home invasion which ultimately led to the death of an elderly woman, the Palmerston North Court heard on Monday.
Two 16-year-olds and a 14-year-old are on trial for the murder of Grace Virtue, 90, who died after an attack in her Levin home in November last year.
Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk told the court the girls - who all have name suppression - planned the attack on social media.
"Three young women contacted each other on Facebook Messenger, and then, armed with knives, settled on a plan to rob a home," Vanderkolk said.
The court was told that two of the teens entered the home while the youngest kept watch. Inside, one of the girls violently attacked Virtue and then took her credit card.
"Mrs Virtue's card was then used to buy three Chupa Chups, drinks, a hoodie, a pair of jeans and tobacco," Vanderkolk said.
Virtue died from her injuries 25 days after the attack.
"For all of us in this courtroom, justice requires complete detachment, unmoved by sympathy and prejudice. These three young women must be tried impartially. We are only concerned with what they did and what they were thinking at the time," Vanderkolk said.
The court heard from members of Virtue's family, including her granddaughter Samantha, who said her once-independent grandmother started losing her mind after the attack, and recounted her grandmother telling her she could see pure evil in one of the girl's eyes.
Lawyers for the two 16-year-olds told the court the pair didn't plan to cause Virtue serious harm.
"It simply cannot be said that she knew, or you can infer that she knew, that really serious harm would happen," defence lawyer Scott Jefferson said.
"At the end of this trial we will be inviting you to find [one of the teens] not guilty of murder, but find her guilty of manslaughter," defence lawyer Gareth Stone said.
The case is set down for three weeks.
