A man who brutally murdered his partner with a claw hammer, despite being under a court order banning him from approaching her, has been sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison.
Joseph Greer attacked mother-of-three Samantha Lee at a property in Aberdeen between 1 and 4 January this year. The High Court in Dundee heard that Lee sustained "catastrophic" head injuries, which proved fatal. Her body was discovered in the kitchen of the Bedford Road property on 4 January after an acquaintance of the couple alerted police.
Greer, 40, had previously pleaded guilty to Lee’s murder and to a separate charge of assaulting her to severe injury last October on an Aberdeen street.
Lord Renucci sentenced Greer to life imprisonment, ordering him to serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars when the case was heard at the High Court in Dundee on Friday. The judge noted Greer’s claimed lack of memory regarding the killing.
"Notwithstanding the fact that you have accepted responsibility for her murder, you claim to have no recollection of it," Lord Renucci stated. "As a result, it has been left to the forensic scientists and the pathologists to put the pieces together and provide us with some idea of the extent of your actions."
He continued: "What the forensic biology and forensic pathology evidence can tell us is that at some point between January 1 2026, when Ms Lee was last seen alive, and the discovery of her body on January 4 2026, you took hold of her and repeatedly struck her on the head and body with a claw hammer or similar type implement whereby she fell to the floor and, as in the previous assault in charge one, that assault continued whilst she was lying defenceless on the ground, this time leaving her with catastrophic head injuries from which she died."
Lord Renucci added: "In inflicting those injuries, you deprived three adult children of their much-loved mother."
At the time of the murder, Greer was prohibited from approaching or contacting Lee, 54, having been granted bail with special conditions following the assault in October last year.
Lord Renucci condemned the crime, saying: "Domestic abuse is a scourge on our society, and it is difficult to imagine a worse example than that exhibited by you towards Ms Lee."
Ms Lee, originally from Coventry, was last heard from on 1 January. The court previously heard that on 4 January, an acquaintance visited the property, where Greer confessed: "I have something to tell you," adding: "Samantha is dead. She is in the kitchen."
The earlier assault in October saw Greer repeatedly strike Lee with a telephone handset in the street, an attack Lord Renucci described as "prolonged, sustained and vicious". Greer received a five-year sentence for this assault, to be served concurrently with his murder sentence.
Tony Lenehan KC, representing Greer, told the court that the 40-year-old had a "toxic relationship with alcohol" and suffered from low mood, feeling he was losing control of his life. "Exactly why he killer her, this rare positive in his life, he cannot articulate," Mr Lenehan said. "The whole vat of his unhappiness ruptured in that assault on Ms Lee."
Lee’s family released a statement saying: "No verdict can ever bring her back or erase the pain, grief, and loss our family has experienced. Our mum was a loving, caring, and valued person whose life was taken from us far too soon. Her absence is felt every day, and the impact of this crime has changed our family forever."
Laura Buchan, legal director at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, commented: "Joseph Greer carried out a brutal and sustained attack on Samantha Lee before failing to raise the alarm. This is a tragic case where domestic abuse escalated to murder.
“Samantha was a much-loved mother, sister, auntie and nanny. Her family have lost someone who meant so much to them, and they have been deprived of years of precious memories together. Samantha’s death is a stark reminder of the devastating impact violence against women and girls can have.
“Scotland’s prosecutors will continue to use every legal tool available to hold those responsible for domestic abuse to account."
