Woman said she stabbed housemate in self-defence, court told

A woman on trial for murder told gardaí she stabbed her housemate and former partner in self-defence, prosecutors have told a trial jury.

Monika Matracka (35), of The Pines, Briarfield, Castletroy, Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Michal Rejmer (38) at that address between 8pm on December 30th and midnight on December 31st, 2015.

Opening the prosecution case at the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, Paul Carroll SC told the jury they would hear that Ms Matracka and Mr Rejmer had been in a relationship which had ended some time ago and they continued to share the house. They were both Polish and lived with another Polish national who was away at the time.

They would hear that Mr Rejmer had been working at McDonald’s in Castletroy up to 8pm December 30th, 2015, but that “he wasn’t seen by his work colleagues again”, said Mr Carroll.

The jury would hear from colleagues who became concerned and that on January 6th, 2016, a manager contacted gardaí, the barrister said.

The jury would hear that when gardaí called to the house on January 6th, Ms Matracka said the last time she saw Mr Rejmer was on December 30th at 11pm.

Mr Carroll told the jury they would hear that when gardaí called to the house on January 8th she told them she had sent him a text on January 2nd wishing him a happy new year.

Shift work

“She said they wouldn’t be in the house a lot together and wouldn’t see each other due to shift work but, on January 6th, when gardaí came to the house she became worried,” he said

The jury would hear his body was discovered at the rear of his house under some plastic sheeting, Mr Carroll said.

A postmortem gave the cause of death as haemorrhage from stab wounds to the arms, the jury heard. Mr Rejmer also had defensive wounds on his hands.

On January 9th, Ms Matracka got upset and told gardaí: “I did it. I killed Michal”, the barrister said the jury would hear. She was subsequently arrested.

Mr Carroll said when the accused was asked about what happened, she said she was attacked by Mr Rejmer.

“It is the prosecution’s contention that there are many inconsistencies in those interviews as to what happened ,” said Mr Carroll.

The barrister said Ms Matracka told gardaí that Mr Rejmer had entered her room with a knife, he was grabbing and shaking her, screaming that he needed money. Some years previously gave her money for study and he was looking for it back, he said.

Knife fell

Mr Carroll said Ms Matracka told gardaí that Mr Rejmer had fallen down the stairs and the knife fell from his hand. She said she picked it up and she effectively stabbed him while he was trying to get back up.

“She outlines she subsequently burned this knife and there is evidence from gardaí of locating this knife in a nearby bin. You will hear about her saying she was attacked first by Mr Rejmer who had a knife and that ultimately she was defending herself,” he said.

The court heard that one of the areas the jury will have to consider is whether the defence of self-defence arises in this case.

“The prosecution’s position is the evidence in this case is such that a verdict of murder should be returned in this case,” said Mr Carroll.