Grandmother Anna Maria Thomas , 61 , from Putney , London , was strangled to death by her lodger , six months after she met him at church . A lodger strangled a Mormon grandmother to death after she invited him to stay at her flat to avoid paying the so-called bedroom tax . Anna Maria Thomas , 61 , asked Felix Gutierrez-Cortez to live at her two-bedroom home in Putney , south west London , after they met in June 2013 through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . The 34-year-old , who previously slept rough at Clapham Junction station , moved in to act as Ms Thomas 's carer but also to fill her second befroom , which would have otherwise been subject to the Government 's controversial under-occupancy charge . The charge , which came into force in April 2013 , limits a tenant 's housing benefit if they have an unused bedroom in their property . But the Old Bailey heard how Ms Thomas was killed by her lodger , just six months after the arrangement was made . The court heard how Ms Thomas was found strangled to death in her flat on December 10 , her face swollen and her eyes bulging out of her head . She was covered with a pink duvet and propped up by a blood-soaked floral pillow , the court heard . Paramedics had gone to her flat after Gutierrez-Cortez phoned 999 , saying he had found her lifeless body on the living room floor . But it later emerged that Ms Thomas had been lying dead in her flat for up to two days . The Old Bailey was told that the postmortem gave the cause of death as compression of the neck , which was most likely caused by strangulation . The Spanish-born Belgian national was today cleared by a jury of murdering his landlady , but convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility . He has been remanded in custody to be sentenced on 24 April . Judge John Bevan QC told him : 'You have been convicted of causing Anna Thomas ' death , but it is clear that you are ill and therfore you have been convicted of manslaughter and not murder . ' The court heard how the pair would attend church together at St Marks in Battersea , although Gutierrez-Cortez was not with her when she was last seen alive on Sunday 8 December . The pensioner had invited Felix Gutierrez-Cortez , 34 , to live with her at her two-bedroom flat in Southfields ( pictured ) so that she could stop her housing benefit being reduced due to the so-called bedroom tax . Prosecutor David Howker QC told the court : 'Before he lived there he had been a rough sleeper in and around Clapham Junction . 'Their cohabitation was no doubt a convenient arrangement providing him with a rent free roof over his head and it meant she would avoid the spare bedroom tax and have someone around the house . ' The pensioner 's last movements included a visit to church , followed by a trip to the library and Sainsbury 's in the Clapham Junction area . The last sighting of her alive was when she was seen getting off the bus near her flat , two days before she was reported dead . 'The prosecution say she met her death at the hands of the defendant . Most likely on the evening of 8 December , ' said Mr Howker . The court heard how Gutierrez-Cortez said he had been away since Sunday and had only returned on Tuesday to find his landlady on the floor . He later told police he had slept on the sofa from Sunday until Tuesday when he had found the body . He said she had gone into the spare room to meditate , and he had stayed in the living room for two days . Officers became concerned about his mental state when he claimed to have been a Vatican researcher . He was taken back to the police station where he was later arrested for murder . Doctors concluded he was 'extremely psychotic ' and he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act . Gutierrez-Cortez , of no fixed address , denied murder and manslaughter , but was convicted of the lesser charge because of his mental illness . Investigating officer Detective Inspector Andy Rees had previously asked people who knew the victim to come forward . He said : 'Our investigations demonstrated that she was a caring mother and grandmother and a deeply religious woman with a wide circle of friends who will miss her deeply - I hope the conviction today provides them with a measure of comfort . ' The bedroom tax restricts the amount of housing benefit that council and housing association tenants can claim . The amount of rent you can claim housing benefit for is reduced by 14 per cent if you have one 'spare ' bedroom . A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said : 'Many people live with lodgers in or out of social housing and this tragic and isolated incident should not be seen as an indictment of this practice , nor of the broader policy . '
Anna Maria Thomas , 61 , met Gutierrez-CortezFelix Gutierrez-Cortez at church in June 2013 . Pensioner wanted him to live with her in Putney , London , to act as a carer . Also wanted to avoid reduction in housing benefit due to second bedroom . But six months later , she was found strangled to death , wrapped in a duvet . Paranoid schizophrenic Felix Gutierrez-Cortez , 34 , convicted of manslaughter .