Stuart furiously erupted at detectives when they accused him of murdering his helpless neighbour – after he pleaded with them to find her killer in chilling TV interview. Then the truth came out

Stuart Anderson flew into a rage when detectives accused him of murdering his elderly neighbor after earlier telling a TV reporter he hoped the killer was caught.

Last month the handyman was found guilty of beating Vicki Ramadan, 77, to death at her Sydenham home in Melbourne’s northwest almost five years ago.

Ms Ramadan’s decomposing body was found in the hallway of the property on April 6, 2019. She had been badly beaten and lay in a pool of her own blood.

In a police interview, Anderson said, “Prove it” and “You have to charge me or let me go, because I’ve had enough,” to detectives.

Then, in an explosion of anger, he slammed his fist on the table and shouted at them: “I’m trying to tell you that I have no idea (who killed Mrs. Ramadan).”

Anderson claimed to have found Ms Ramadan’s body and asked his partner Jade to call triple zero.

The operator asked Jade a few questions and then asked Anderson to come on the line.

When he did, she asked, “Can you tell me how she died?”

“I have no idea, look, there’s blood everywhere. She has blood everywhere, there’s blood on the floor. There’s blood on the walls,’ he replied.

A current issue reporter Sam Cucchiara spoke to Anderson days later and got a bad feeling from him.

“Unfortunately, what happened is a tragedy. I really hope the police catch ab****’s son,” Anderson said, before flashing a disturbing smile.

‘She seemed like a very nice lady. She didn’t deserve this at all.’

The killer played the role of a grieving neighbor and said: “A great shock of fear went through me” when he found the body.

“We’ve never seen her, never met her before until she knocked on my door and asked us for help,” he said.

“And being the kind of people we are, we decided to help her.”

He had built a wardrobe for Mrs Ramadan, but it broke that day and she reported him to the police.

It was one of the last times she was seen alive.

Anderson beat his victim so brutally that her teeth were found scattered on the floor around her and parts of her skull had pierced her brain.

As detectives interviewed him and spoke to people who knew him, the pressure got to Anderson.

One Sunday evening during dinner he called Sergeant Patrick Derksen and said: ‘I know you (sic) have asked a lot of people a lot of questions about me.

“I just want to talk to you about a few things.”

Stuart Anderson (pictured) said: ‘Unfortunately what has happened is a tragedy. I really hope the police catch ab****’s son,” Anderson said, before flashing a disturbing smile

Ms Ramadan was last seen in this CCTV footage entering a police station on March 23, 2019

When he went to the police station the next day, Anderson admitted that he had staged the discovery of the older woman’s body.

He claimed he found her the night before when he broke into her house to retrieve tools he had left behind, which he needed to repair his car to get a roadworthy certificate.

But that was another lie. His car passed the weeks of driving test before crashing into Vicki’s house.

“I panicked and ran,” he said.

After three trials in the Victorian Supreme Court – the first of which resulted in a hung jury and a second which had to be aborted – Anderson was finally found guilty of murder just before Christmas.

Mrs Ramadan’s close friend Christine Valla (pictured) said: ‘I can’t even describe the sadness and emptiness she left behind

He never revealed why he killed his neighbor, although police suspect it was most likely a botched burglary.

Mrs Ramadan’s close friend Christine Valla said: ‘I can’t even describe the sadness and emptiness she left behind.

“I hope the person responsible gets his due…for someone to do that to another human being is absolutely horrible.”

Anderson will be sentenced later this year.