Caroline Nilsson found not guilty of murdering mother-in-law after smart watch case retrial

An Adelaide woman accused of murdering her mother-in-law and then staging a fake home invasion has been acquitted by a Supreme Court jury.

After hearing evidence over six weeks, and three days of deliberations, the jury found 30-year-old Caroline Dela Rose Nilsson not guilty of murder.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charge of manslaughter.

A jury last year was unable to reach a verdict following an eight-week trial.

Myrna Nilsson, 57, was found dead in the laundry of her Valley View home in Adelaide’s north-east in September 2016.

Her daughter-in-law was found in their driveway gagged and distressed.

Caroline Nilsson told neighbours and police that she and her mother-in-law had been the victims of a violent home invasion.

However, prosecutors alleged data from the smart watch Myrna Nilsson was wearing put her time of death at odds with her daughter-in-law’s version of events.

Prosecutor Emily Telfer SC told the jurors during the retrial that Ms Nilsson “fabricated” the home-invasion story which, she said, was contradicted by data downloaded from the smart watch.

“On the accused’s account, after Myrna Nilsson was killed, [Caroline Nilsson] remained in that house without calling for help for three hours,” Ms Telfer said.

She said the accused told police that she was attacked, bound and gagged by two or three men “who looked like tradies”, before escaping from the family home about three hours later and being found distressed by neighbours.

Defence lawyer Heath Barklay SC, for Ms Nilsson, told the court while there was no dispute that Myrna Nilsson was murdered, his client “simply did not kill” her mother-in-law.

“The defence case is that the circumstantial evidence does not paint a clear picture of murder,” he said.

Mr Barklay said Ms Nilsson was a loving mother who had a good relationship with her mother-in-law, and that there was no evidence of animosity between them.

Ms Nilsson remains on home dentition bail.