The bloodstained body of Angela Wrightson, 39, was found at her home in Hartlepool, County Durham, having suffered more than 100 injuries after she was battered with a wooden stick laced with screws, a TV set, a computer printer, a coffee table and a shovel.
The court was told that Ms Wrightson was discovered on the sofa in her front room, naked from the waist down, by her landlord on December 8 2014.
Smaller items such as a kettle and a metal pan had also used been used in the attack, together with a glass ceramic vase and a glass ornament.
The teenagers, who are both charged with murder, cannot be named for legal reasons.
The girls, who are now aged 14 and 15, appeared in the dock at Leeds Crown Court to deny the charge.
Opening the case, Nicholas Campbell QC said: ‘The prosecution’s case is that Angela Wrightson was murdered and that the two defendants are guilty of that murder.’
The girls were each flanked by an intermediary who will help them understand the court process.
Mr Campbell added: ‘It became clear that she (Ms Wrightson) had been the victim of a sustained and a brutal attack. There were well over 100 injuries on all parts of her body.
‘The evidence at the scene of the crime showed that she had been assaulted on 12 separate locations within and around that room. A number of implements were used.’
Both defendants admit they were present at the time the injuries were inflicted.
The older girl accepts that she struck Ms Wrightson but said she did not intend her serious harm.
The younger girl says she played no part in the assault and did not encourage her co-accused in any way.
Mr Campbell said: ‘The prosecution case is that they were in it together and they are jointly responsible for this fatal attack.’
Counsel in the case and the judge presiding over the five-week trial, Mr Justice Henry Globe, did not wear wigs during the hearing.
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