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Ann Widdecombe was bludgeoned 21 times over the head with a hammer in a 'ferocious' two-minute attack captured on camera, a court heard today.
The 78-year-old former minister was ambushed in her own kitchen by a hammer-wielding intruder while she was having her lunch, it was said.
Disturbing details of her brutal murder emerged today as her alleged killer Joshua Kerry appeared in court for the first time.
The 28-year-old is alleged to have walked into the former MP's kitchen through an unlocked front door asking, 'Don't suppose you have bank cards and ID?' as he held a hammer out of sight.
Prosecutors described the violence used as 'ferocious' saying Kerry struck the victim 21 times before shoving her body to the floor, rifling through her handbag for a wallet and fleeing the scene.
Today it emerged for the first time that the pensioner died from a 'blunt force injury to the head'.
But, just hours earlier a coroner had insisted the cause of death was unascertained.
Philip Spinney, senior coroner for the county of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, opened an inquest into her death at 10am declaring: 'She was found to be unresponsive with visible injuries.
'A postmortem examination has taken place and at this stage the precise medical cause of death has yet to be established.'
But at a subsequent Westminster Magistrates Court hearing at 2pm, Prosecutor Kashir Malik said: 'A provisional cause of death from the pathologist was given as a blunt force injury to the head.'
He told the court that the attack was caught on a kitchen camera installed in Ms Widdecombe's home which recorded the defendant's movements and sounds from the victim.
The defendant was seen parking on Ms Widdecombe's drive on another camera and entering the property in Dartmoor around 12.01pm on July 8, the court was told.
Mr Malik said: 'He is wearing black gloves and holding a hammer in his right hand, held by his side, hidden from Miss Widdecombe view.
'The defendant hits her on the top of the head with the hammer 21 times. He then tips her out of the chair where she falls on to the floor.
'The defendant then reaches for her handbag and takes her wallet out.
'The defendant leaves the property and gets back into his vehicle.
'From entering and leaving the property, he was in the property for two minutes.'
Her body was not found until the next day after the Reform immigration spokeswoman did not attend a Channel 5 interview.
The production team attempted to contact Ms Widdecombe through her personal assistant resulting in a gardener being sent to check up on her.
The prosecutor added: 'The gardener entered the house; the front door was open and held back with the doorstop. The gardener discovered Miss Widdecombe was lying face down on the kitchen floor with a serious head injury.
'The ambulance service was called and paramedics confirmed the death.'
Kerry was arrested on suspicion of murder at 9pm on July 11 at his home address 265 miles away in Rotherham.
Police later arrested him on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, which remains under investigation.
Police searches of his property resulted in a hammer and a pair of gloves being recovered from a bin, prosecutors said.
A mobile phone seized from the defendant allegedly contained photographs taken on the day of Miss Widdecombe's murder showing her driving licence and bank cards, which prosecutors say were stolen after the attack.
Today, Kerry spoke only to confirm his name and address when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
The defendant sat in a grey prison issue tracksuit with his arms folded as details of the case were read out by the prosecutor.
He was later transported to the Old Bailey to face a subsequent hearing to set dates for trial.
Kerry showed no emotion as Prosecutor Alistair Richardson described the 'ferocity of violence' in the 'planned and targeted' attack on the former Tory MP.
The defendant was remanded in custody ahead of the next hearing on October 9.
A trial date was set for June 8 next year.
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