Murder-accused Norris Simpson told Supreme Court he was at home watching movies when his landlord, Ida James was killed.The retired social worker’s body was found at her Berry Hill Road, Paget home by tenants on September 2, 2011. The court has heard she was likely killed the previous night.Mr Simpson, 54, has denied the offence.Taking the stand in his own defence yesterday, Mr Simpson told the court that he was at home the night Ms James was stabbed to death.Mr Simpson described meeting his landlord Ms James on September 1, paying part of his rent to her, and hugging her after she gave him back $50.Mr Simpson told the court he had originally been contracted by Ms James as a painter and handyman before becoming her tenant, renting a bedroom at a property on North Shore Road.Along with doing various jobs at the North Shore Road Property, Mr Simpson said he had done work on Ms James’ home on Berry Hill Road.The defendant spoke of cutting his finger on the evening before his arrest, while jumping down from his boss' truck.Under cross examination by Director of Prosecutions Rory Field, the defendant said getting a cut was nothing unusual in the course of his work."I work," the defendant said. "So if I get little scratches, maybe I might not even notice."Replied Mr Field: “The greater amount of [Ms James’] DNA was found on the finger of your left hand. Is that not because as a right-handed person, you would have been holding the knife with your right hand and grabbing her with your left?"Said Mr Simpson: “I was home watching DVDs."Mr Field suggested the defendant lied to police in his initial statement about his movements on the evening of September 1.And he accused Mr Simpson of laughing during police questioning, and refusing to supply the address of a friend who borrowed his bicycle on the afternoon of September 2.Mr Simpson would not tell the court why his friend had borrowed the bike, or where the friend lived. He said it was irrelevant to the case.Mr Field said: "That bike may have had some forensic evidence on it from the night before. Was that why you hid it somewhere out of the way so that it wasn't found for over a month?"Mr Simpson disagreed, and maintained he didn't see the relevance of the push bike.Mr Field accused him also of destroying his clothes and shoes but said Mr Simpson had forgotten about his cap. The court has heard a piece of evidence was recovered from it."I don't know where that tissue came from on that," the defendant replied. He agreed he had worn the cap on the evening of September 1 while working at Hope Academy."Can you explain why some of the flesh of Ida James was on the front of it?"Mr Simpson replied: "No, I could not. I know I didn't do it. Ida James was a beautiful person that was helping me."Asked about where he had received the money he used to pay her rent, he said that he had lined up a $1,200 painting job for the Saturday, and had received his pay for the month.Mr Field questioned why someone would offer Mr Simpson $1,200 for five or six hours of work when he is usually paid $100 a day. Mr Simpson responded that he had different clients who could pay him different rates.However he refused to identify the client, saying: “I don’t think my client would like their name put out.”Mr Field replied: “And that’s more important to you than the outcome of a murder trial?”Defence lawyer Craig Attridge responded that the matter was a “collateral issue.”The trial is set to continue on Monday.