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 Felix 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 Gutierrez-Cortez, 34, convicted of manslaughter .