Alan Rogers , who admitted manslaughter after smashing the skull of neighbour Fred Hatch after wrongly believing he was involved in witchcraft . A crazed pensioner killed his Navy veteran neighbour with a claw hammer as he wrongly believed he was involved in witchcraft , a court heard today . Alan Rogers , 73 , smashed the skull of 76-year-old grandfather Fred Hatch in the communal garden of their sheltered housing complex near Cardiff . Mr Hatch 's worried wife Enid then went looking for her husband after he failed to return into the house from the garden . She then discovered Rogers standing over the bloodied body of her husband before fleeing to press a panic alarm . Today at Cardiff Crown Court , Rogers pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is due to be sentenced later today . The court heard how after attacking his neighbour , Rogers then calmly called the police and told them : ' I have just killed one of my neighbours and I have hit his head with a hammer . ' Police and paramedics raced to the sheltered housing complex in Dinas Powys but they were unable to save Mr Hatch , who died in hospital . As Rogers was handcuffed by police officers , he told them : ' I have been waiting a long time to kill that man . ' Police then interviewing Rogers suspected he may have been suffering mental health problems when he started making strange statements about why he killed his neighbour . Prosecutor Mike Jones said Rogers told police he had killed Fred because he was involved in modern 'witchcraft ' . Mr Jones explained : 'He told police he had a moral duty to himself to kill this person as these people were using modern technology the equivalent of witchcraft to harm defenceless sentient beings . 'He said Fred had been in collusion with what he described as `` the man and his colleagues '' . ' The court was told the morning of October 8 last year began with Mr Hatch walking to the communal garden to spread grass seeds . Rogers told police he had 'been waiting for an opportunity to get this person ' and when he saw Mr Hatch walking back from the garden he 'opened his door and attacked . ' Rogers then hit him at least six times with the claw end of a hammer - spraying blood up the walls and across the floor . Mr Hatch , pictured with his wife Enid , who discovered Rogers standing over the blood stained body of her husband in their communal garden . The court was told the victim had such catastrophic injuries to his forehead his skull , his brain was visible . Rogers was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but had no previous criminal record or episodes of violence before the killing . Mrs Hatch said they had never had any previous problems with Rogers , and described him as 'articulate but unkempt ' . She said her husband of 50 years was 'the love of my life ' and someone who was 'very easygoing and never had any problems with people . ' A police officer stands outside the sheltered housing complex in Cardiff , where both Rogers and Mr and Mrs Hatch lived . Rogers attacked Mr Hatch outside in the gardens of the sheltered housing complex after going out to spread grass seeds . The court heard the couple met serving in the Royal Navy and 'fell in love quite instantly ' and married within six months of meeting . They had four children together and spent their retirement travelling the world . They were planning their next trip to America when he was brutally killed . Vincent Coughlin , defending , said the killing was 'an appalling unprovoked attack ' and Rogers was 'conscious of the pain he has caused . ' Mr Hatch 's death came four decades after Mrs Hatch ’ s sister Betty Elston was found murdered on the beach at Sully in the Vale of Glamorgan in July 1971 .
Alan Rogers smashed the head of # ##bolt in their communal bathroom . Mr Hatch 's wife reportedly saw Rogers standing over her husband 's body . Rogers claimed he wanted Mr Hatch dead as he was trained in witchcraft . He told police arresting him ' I have been waiting a long time to kill that man '