A man has admitted murdering Tommy Cooper’s niece at her home in Eastbourne.
Sabrina Cooper was found stabbed to death at her home in the town just before Christmas last year.
Tony King was told he will be jailed for life after changing his plea at a hearing in Lewes.
King, 59, stabbed the comedy legend’s niece with a kitchen knife.
Her Honour Judge Christine Laing KC told King; “Make no mistake, it is a life sentence.”
King glared at Sabrina’s daughter Natasha Cooper who fought back tears before the hearing.
She had to be restrained by her partner as King was taken down to begin his life sentence.
King, described as an angry man, murdered Sabrina who ran the family magic shop, in an apparently motiveless attack on December 18.
An inquest heard Sabrina, 68, suffered multiple stab wounds to her abdomen and chest.
At a hearing the following day, he admitted being in possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.
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Defence barrister Richard Body told the court: “This is not one where we will be concerned with what happened, but what was going on in his head.”
King was forced to change his plea after a psychiatrist and psychologist could not identify any mental illness.
King spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his guilty plea.
“The only sentence the court can pass is one of life imprisonment on you,” Judge Laing said.
King worked as a man-with-a-van in the Eastbourne area.
Police were called over concerns for the welfare of a woman at the house in Connaught Road.
Sabrina ran Cooper's Magic Shops in Cornfield Road, Eastbourne, the family business set up by her dad, Tommy’s brother David.
The shop closed in 2017.
Tommy was famous for being a prop comedian and magician who was renowned for wearing a fez on stage.
Her family paid tribute to a “loving and dedicated mother and grandmother”.
Tony King, 59, of Cornfield Terrace, Eastbourne, will be sentenced on June 23.
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