New York vet technician, 29, who slashed 70-year-old neighbor's throat during 'dispute' in luxury apartment is seen grinning as she appears in court for closing arguments in murder trial

The New York City veterinary technician accused of slitting the throat of her elderly neighbor appeared in court for closing arguments in her murder trial.

Anya Johnston, 29, has been on trial for the October 2018 killing of Susan Trott, 70, who lived in the unit just one floor below her in a luxury Upper West Side apartment.

She was pictured grinning, wearing a white collared shirt with her brown hair down in Manhattan Supreme court for closing arguments on Wednesday.

Johnston's trial began late last month with her lawyers pursuing an insanity defense, reported West Side Rag. 

'She did it because she was crazy,' her defense attorney Jeremy Schneider said during opening arguments.

Anya Johnston, 29, has been on trial for the October 2018 killing of Susan Trott , 70, who lived in the unit just one floor below her in a luxury Upper West Side apartment

She was pictured grinning, wearing a white collared shirt with her brown hair down in Manhattan Supreme court for closing arguments on Wednesday

Johnston's trial began late last month with her lawyers arguing an insanity defense

'Sue Trott was killed on October 17th by that young woman [Johnston] right there, stabbing her with a distinctive knife that she bought on Amazon nine months earlier, everybody agrees to that.'

Schneider said Johnston has a history of mental health issues including suicide attempts, hospitalizations, special schools, therapists, and medications.

He also described a troubled upbringing, saying she was born prematurely in Russia and lived in an orphanage with one caregiver for every 10 babies before she was adopted by a single mother without any medical history of her biological parents. 

'On October 17, she was not in her right state of mind,' Schneider said. 

He added that she had stopped taking her mental health medication one month prior to the murder.

However, Assistant District Attorney Hannah Yu argued Johnston had the 'capacity to know and appreciate' that she was stabbing Trott and 'she knew it was legally and morally wrong.'

Yu cited Johnston's employment at Symphony Veterinary Center and said colleagues described her as, 'never delusional and quite capable of performing her duties.'

'She did it because she was crazy,' her defense attorney Jeremy Schneider said during opening arguments

The assistant district attorney said Johnston's diary will show how she had been 'fantasizing about and planning the murder for months'

The assistant district attorney said Johnston's diary will show how she had been 'fantasizing about and planning the murder for months.'

Trott was found with her throat slashed inside her bedroom on the morning of October 21, 2018 - four days after the attack.

Police conducted a welfare check after a friend and colleague notified authorities that she had failed to show up to work and hadn't been heard from in days.

When police entered the residence they found a trail of blood leading into the bedroom.

Authorities reported no signs of forced entry, no murder weapon at the scene, and the apartment was not ransacked. The apartment also has a doorman.

Trott was a successful copy writer and major player in the advertising industry for decades, working for firms including BBDO, J Walter Thompson, McCann-Erickson, Satchi & Satchi and Y&R and for brands like Levi's, Nickelodeon, Ambien, Virgin Atlantic, and Air Canada.

Trott (pictured) was found with her throat slashed inside her bedroom on the morning of October 21, 2018

Cops believe Trott and Johnston may have had arguments in the past, although it's unclear what their conflicts were

She was running her own ad company out of her apartment.

Cops believe Trott and Johnston may have had arguments in the past, although it's unclear what their conflicts were.

Trott's friend said that she had gotten into altercations - at times physical - with with neighbors over the past decade.

She was attacked her over her apartment and love of animals, her longtime business partner and friend Eric Boscia, who is based in London, one told the New York Post.

'I said it would be someone in the building. I said if anything looks foul, it was someone in the building...the people that abused her most were her neighbors,' he said.