Man given life for murder of mother and daughter in Kerry

A 28-year-old man has been found guilty of double murder, of a mother and daughter and given two concurrent life sentences , at the Central Criminal Court in Tralee, Co Kerry

The jury’s verdict and sentencing by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy at came at the end of a trial spanning five weeks.

Lithuanian forestry worker Aurimas Andruska, of Ardmoniel Heights, Killorglin had denied the murder of Lithuanian care home worker Jolanta Lubiene (27) and her eight-year-old daughter Enrika in their home at 9 Langford Downes, Killorglin on a date unknown between June 15th and June 17th 2013.

He had told gardaí he did not kill them and stuck to his story of throwing out his shoes, not because they were blood soaked, but because they were old.

The scene uncovered by gardaí on the night of June 16th, was soaked in blood. Someone had walked in the wet blood of Enrika. Bits of the same knife that killed both mother and daughter were found alongside their bodies.

On day 20 of the trial , a jury of seven women and five men returned unanimous verdicts of guilty after spending two hours and forty five minutes deliberating.

Marius Lubys, the husband of the dead woman and father of the child wept openly as the verdict was pronounced.

Detective Sgt John Kelly, of Killarney gardaí, who arrested Mr Andruska in June 2013, was called by Isobel Kennedy, senior prosecutor, backed up by Tom Rice, junior counsel to gave the court background .

The court heard that Aurimas Andruska was at one time a semi-professional footballer. He had first moved to Ireland in 2007 and had lived at 9 Langford Downes with others. He returned to Lithuania and had worked building tombstones and came back to Ireland in February 2013 . He had a previous conviction in Lithuania in relation to heroin storage and acquisition and was a heroin user when he returned.

In a victim impact statement delivered by Ms Kennedy, husband Marius Lubys, who was working in Sweden when his wife and daughter were murdered recalled how just one year ago he had “a beautiful family.”

“I cannot describe to you how much I loved them, especially my little girl Enrika. My life has no joy anymore. I cannot hug Enrika or hear her joy or laughter anymore. Now the only place that I can meet them is when they visit me in my dreams and in my thoughts.......Nothing will ever bring them back to me. I can only hope they will now rest in peace and I say to you, Jolanta and Enrika, that you will always stay in my heart.”

In her impact statement, the dead woman’s sister Kristina Kuleviceine, who lived near Killorglin and met her sister every day, called the accused man a monster and said he had taken not only Jolanta and her Enrika’s lives, but had “ruined” her whole family.

She also hit out at the picture painted of Jolanta during the trial. “Many of the things that were said about Jolanta during the trial were not true. Some of these things were said by the very same people who pretended to be Jolanta’s friends... I do not say to you that Jolanta was perfect, but to be fair, I do not think that there are many of us who are really that perfect. We all make mistakes.”

“She was a decent person. She was a fantastic mother, sister, daughter and wife. Jolanta was the best friend you or anyone could have. Everyone loved her as a friend... She cannot defend herself anymore because she is dead and has no voice now. Many of things that were said about Jolanta during the trial were not true.”