A Central Criminal Court jury has convicted a man who denied murdering his partner despite evidence that he had beaten her, threatened her parents that he would kill her and told gardaí he had done so.
The trial of Daniel Blanaru (37) for the murder of Larisa Serban (26) at Rathmore, Athboy, Co Meath, on or about August 12th, 2022, ran for seven weeks.
The jury panel began deliberating on Tuesday morning and took just three hours and two minutes to agree with the prosecution’s case that Ms Serban died as a result of a “sustained and brutal attack” at the hands Blanaru, her “controlling and jealous” partner.
The jury heard Ms Serban sustained two stab wounds, one to her chest measuring 12cm, which punctured her heart, lung and aorta and proved fatal, and a second to her arm, the force of which fractured a bone.
Ms Serban’s body was found in the early hours of the morning on the floor between the bedroom and the hallway of her home. Her blood was found on Blanaru’s clothing.
Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, had suggested that Blanaru’s lawyers were “throwing the kitchen sink at everything” without having “any particular plausible defence” to put before the jury.
However, in her closing address she said this was in fact “a very simple case” which resolved itself to a few key facts.
“He attacked her with a knife, he beat her, he cut her. He stabbed her with such ferocity that he severed a bone.”
Counsel said Blanaru had murdered Ms Serban “in cold blood”.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon thanked the jury for their attention to detail in the case and exempted them from further jury duty for 10 years.
Members of Ms Serban’s family, many of whom gave evidence during the trial, were in tears after the jury’s verdict was announced.
Blanaru will be sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at a sentencing hearing on April 10th, when members of Ms Serban’s family will be invited to make a statement to the court.
During the trial, Ms Serban’s father, Ronet Serban, told the jury his daughter would hide the fact her partner was beating her. He said Blanaru told her parents he would one day kill her, and they would “hear about” it.
Mr Serban told gardaí he had advised his daughter to “get rid” of Blanaru, who he knew was “violent”.
Evidence was also heard from Ms Serban’s mother, Georgeta Serban, who said Blanaru became “extremely possessive, paranoid, and controlling”.
Ms Serban said Larisa was constantly under pressure as Blanaru was always accusing her of lying and cheating, and he was “controlling her”.
A number of Blanaru’s family members told gardaí the accused said he had stabbed Ms Serban after catching her in bed with another man. However, two of these witnesses resiled from their statements in their direct evidence to the trial.
Blanaru confirmed when interviewed by detectives that he did not find his partner with anyone else.
Adriana Kovaciu told the trial she was asleep in bed when her husband Leon Ciurar received a call from his brother, Blanaru, at about 4am.
She said that when they heard Blanaru say he had caught Larisa in bed with someone else and stabbed her, they quickly got dressed and drove to the house in Rathmore.
“The first thing I saw was Larisa and I saw there was a big pool of blood,” she said. “Larisa was on the ground between the bedroom and the hallway, face down.”
The trial heard that after leaving the house in Rathmore, Blanaru drove to his sister Simona Terezia Ciurar’s house in Drogheda, arriving between 3am and 4am.
Ms Ciurar told gardaí when he came to her door, Blanaru told her he “put a knife into” Ms Serban and said: ‘I killed her, I killed her, what have I done?‘”
However, in her direct evidence to the trial, Ms Ciurar resiled from this statement and said she did not remember her brother using those words.
Ms Ciurar’s husband, Raul-Cosmin Tache, told gardaí the accused said he “beat” Ms Serban and “cut her with a knife”.
While in the witness box giving evidence, however, Mr Tache said he did not know if the accused “said those things to me at that time”, although he accepted that his statements to gardaí contained these words.
Larisa Serban’s brother David told gardaí he had left her house at roughly 1am on August 12th and there was “no arguing or shouting”.
Under cross-examination, he said Blanaru was “doing drugs” and “begged me to bring him cocaine.”
“I told him I would go and get him cocaine, but I didn’t,” he said.
The jury heard Blanaru presented himself at Drogheda Garda station at around 6am on August 12th.
During his interviews with gardaí, Blanaru initially said he “pushed” and “hit” Ms Serban during an argument after he claimed he found her having a party with her brother and another “tall guy”.
Blanaru later said Ms Serban came at him with a knife but it “accidentally” went into her.
“She came towards me. I put my hand on the knife, struggling, but the knife was already in her body, but I didn’t know that.”
However, in his fourth and final interview, Blanaru told detectives: “I am guilty, I killed her. Please lock me up”.
The jury was told that despite extensive searches, the weapon which caused Ms Serban’s fatal injury has never been located.
