Afriend and former colleague of murdered charity worker Nellie Mae Brown-Cox said yesterday justice was served after a jury found contractor Prince Hepburn guilty of her 2011 murder.
The 12-member panel rejected the defense's argument that Hepburn had a "temporary psychotic break", after learning of Brown-Cox's alleged infidelity, which led him to hack her to death with a cutlass.
Linda LaFleur, treasurer of the Bahamas Heart Association, said she hoped the verdict would bring closure for Brown- Cox's family and friends.
"We were hearing all during the trial that they would get him off for insanity and stuff like that," said LaFleur at her office on West Bay Street.
"We were hearing all these different views that the lawyers were coming up with and you always have that in the back of your mind.
"I always felt that justice would have been served, and today my feelings came to fruition that justice was duly served."
Brown-Cox's family, including her estranged husband, were present at yesterday's hearing. However, the family did not speak to the press about the conviction.
LaFleur said she hoped Brown-Cox's two adult daughters would be able to get past her murder.
"I am happy for them," she said.
"Now they can really put some closure to this and get on with their lives because they had this hanging over them for the last two years.
"It was really terrible. They couldn't really move on, so now that this is behind them, it will take them a little while... but they can move on and try to make something of themselves because they have big shoes to fill."
LaFleur said she will remember the victim as a gogetter who was full of life. She added that the way Brown- Cox was portrayed after her death was at odds with the woman she knew.
Brown-Cox was president of the Bahamas Heart Association at the time of her murder.
"She was a person that was full of life and she was a gogetter,"LaFleur said. "She liked to make things happen and get things done. Once she put her mind to it there was nothing to stop her. She would get it done.
"She was really fun to work with and during her presidency a lot of things happened.
"You didn't know that person that they tried to paint such an awful picture about. So I never even went on the computer to try to look because I didn't want to see. I didn't want to besmirch my images of her."
Brown-Cox and Hepburn, who dated for five years, were estranged from their respective spouses.
Hepburn became depressed after learning that Brown-Cox was cheating on him with a man who lived in the United States, according to evidence presented at trial.
Shortly after the murder, crime scene photos showing Brown-Cox's injuries spread over the Internet.
Brown-Cox was killed between April 6 and April 7, 2011.
Hepburn will be sentenced on May 22.
Prosecutor Franklyn Williams said yesterday the Crown will not seek the death penalty.
Hepburn's attorney, Murrio Ducille, plans to appeal the conviction.

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