Woman found not guilty of killing husband

A woman accused of killing her wheelchair-bound husband by setting fire to his bedroom has been found not guilty of murder.

A jury in the South Australian Supreme Court delivered the verdict on Tuesday after deliberating for more than a day.

Prosecutors had alleged that Beverly Dalziel, 45, had been fed up with having to do everything for her alcoholic husband, who drank whatever he could, whenever he could get it.

She was charged with murdering Charles William Dalziel, 67, in August 2012 by setting fire to their home at Barmera in the SA Riverland.

Mr Dalziel was bed-bound and confined to a wheelchair due to painful back problems for which he was prescribed medication.

He died in the blaze which saw firefighters confronted by a ferocious blaze with smoke and flames gushing out of the house, making it too hot and dangerous to go inside.

Lawyers for Mrs Dalziel said her husband drank heavily and often smoked in bed, which was the likely cause of the fire.