Elizabeth Vamplew, 77, had been suffering from poor health and very limited mobility when her daughter-in-law Karen lit the fire.
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The vulnerable OAP died from burns and smoke inhalation after the blaze tore through her bungalow in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Karen, 44, murdered Elizabeth in a bid to get inheritance money to pay off debts she had piled up.
The killer had already plundered Elizabeth’s bank account to spend thousands on herself and her family.
She drained the account until Elizabeth’s bank put a block on her cash card the day before the fire.
Karen led Elizabeth to the bank that same morning to get the block removed.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce KC said Elizabeth “was no longer of use to the defendant, only a burden” after the cash flow dried up”.
But Karen knew her husband stood to inherit half of Elizabeth’s estate under the pensioner’s will.
DCI Clare Dean said Karen “deliberately set a catastrophic and fatal fire knowing full well that Elizabeth was asleep inside the property”.
She added: “It was a brutal and premeditated act borne out of wickedness and greed.”
FORENSIC PROBE
Karen was arrested on suspicion of murder two days after the fire on December 15, 2021.
But there was not enough evidence to bring charges against her, cops said.
She was re-arrested on September 27 last year after specialist detectives turned up new clues.
Elizabeth was a smoker and it had been believed a dropped cigarette could have started the fatal blaze.
But forensic experiments proved only the “direct application of a naked flame at the bottom of the bed” could have set it off.
Murder cops traced Karen’s “suspicious movements” to and from Elizabeth’s home before the fire.
Karen Vamplew, aka Karen Degg, was found guilty of murder on Friday after a trial at Leicester Crown Court.
Today she has been handed a life sentence and will have to serve a minimum of 32 years before she is considered for parole.
KILLER’S LIES
DCI Dean said: “This is a very sad and tragic case and I am pleased the jury saw through Karen Vamplew’s lies.
“They have found her guilty of murder after careful deliberation. This has been a lengthy and complex investigation.
“I would like to praise the dedicated work carried out by the investigation team and external specialists to bring her to justice.
“Throughout this investigation Vamplew maintained that she was not responsible for the death of her own mother-in-law.
“Today’s sentence brings to an end a long legal ordeal for Elizabeth’s family.
“But I am acutely aware that it will never ease the pain they feel every day at this terrible loss.
“I would like to thank each of them for the enormous courage and dignity they have shown in unimaginably difficult circumstances.”