Mother and daughter victims of sustained and violent attack

A mother and daughter found dead in their rented home in Co Kerry were the victims of a sustained and violent attack in which they suffered multiple stab wounds including some which severed veins and arteries, a murder trial heard today.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said murder victims Jolanta Lubiene (27) suffered a total of 61 stab wounds as well as incisions and punctures, while her daughter Enrika (8) suffered 11 stab wounds as well as incisions and punctures.

“I would describe it as a sustained and violent attack,” said Dr Bolster who spent almost 2½ hours in the witness box describing the injuries she had catalogued during a postmortem on the bodies of the Lithuanian-born mother and daughter.

Dr Bolster was giving evidence on the 15th day of the trial of Aurimas Andruska (28) with an address at Ardmoniel Heights, Killorglin, Co Kerry, who denies the murder of Ms Lubiene and her daughter at their home at Langford Downs, Killorglin, Co Kerry, between June 14th and June 16th, 2013.

At the Central Criminal Court sitting in Tralee, Dr Bolster told the jury of five men and seven women that she carried out a preliminary examination of both bodies in the house on June 16th, 2013, before they were removed to Kerry General Hospital for a postmortem. The body of Ms Lubiene was found lying on the floor in the kitchen while Enrika was found lying on her side on the upstairs landing.