Man sounded 'desperate' and said he 'thought he stabbed' his partner, court told

Fiona Magennis

A murder accused sounded “desperate” and “panicked” when he spoke to his brother on the phone and told his sibling to “go quick” to his home as he "thought he had stabbed" his partner, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The jury also heard evidence on Monday from the deceased woman’s sister, Narcisa Serban, who said she went to the scene and found Larissa Serban in a “pool of blood” with “foam” at her mouth.

Under cross-examination, Narcisa Serben was asked whether she had a “sexual encounter” with the accused man before he started a relationship with her sister and whether Larisa had had a sexual interaction with Narcisa’s partner in the past. Ms Serban said she did not want to answer the questions.

Daniel Blanaru (37), from Rathmore, Athboy, Co Meath, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his partner Larissa Serban (26) at Rathmore, Co Meath, on or about August 12th, 2022.

Giving evidence to prosecuting counsel Eilis Brennan SC on Monday, Leon Ciurar confirmed he received a Facebook messenger audio call from his sister Simona and her husband on August 12th, 2022. Ms Brennan then brought Mr Ciurar through the statement he had given to gardaí on August 16th, 2022.

He confirmed that on the call, his sister’s husband had told him to go to Daniel’s home because he thought Daniel had stabbed Larissa. He went on to say that Daniel had “grabbed the phone” off his brother-in-law and told him to “go quick” to his home as he “thought he had stabbed Larissa”.

“I was in pure panic when I heard this,” Mr Ciurar told gardaí. “Daniel sounded desperate and panicked when he spoke to me. Daniel said: ‘Go quick, I don’t know what happened, but I think I stabbed her or cut her. That’s my best recollection of what he said to me.”

Asked by Ms Brennan on Monday if he accepted that what he had said to gardaí on August 16th was an accurate account of what happened, Mr Ciurar, speaking through a Romanian interpreter, said: “Yes, what I declared at the time is correct”.

Mr Ciurar told gardaí that Daniel had also mentioned to him on this call that he had “caught Larissa in bed with someone else at the time”. He said his brother did not say “who it may have been”.

Under cross-examination, Mr Ciurar agreed with Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, defending, that the situation had been “shocking” and “distressing” for him and that made it difficult to remember exactly what words were spoken.

Asked if it was possible that the word “cut” had been used by Daniel Blanaru and not the word “stabbed”, Mr Ciurar agreed it “could be possible”.

The court also heard evidence from Narcisa Serban, who told Ms Brennan that she had received a call from her mother at around 5am on the morning of August 12th, 2022, asking her to go and check on Larisa. She said she woke her partner, Marcus, and they went to her sister’s house arriving at around 5:30am.

She said gardaí were at the property when they arrived.

Ms Serban said at the scene, she saw her sister with a “pool of blood” under her body and “foam” or “something white” on her mouth. She said one of her sister’s eyes was open and the other was closed. She went to check her pulse but couldn’t find one and her sister’s body was “stiff”.

She confirmed to Mr Ó Lideadha that when she and her partner arrived, the guards initially would not let them in.

“Did you tell your mother you lied to the gardaí, you said you were a doctor so they would let you in?” Mr Ó Lideadha asked. “Yes I did, I told them to save my sister,” said the witness.

She confirmed that when they entered the property, gardaí were searching the house told them to leave.

Asked if it was true that she had had a “sexual encounter” with Daniel Blanaru before he was in a relationship with Larissa, Ms Serban exclaimed and said: “Why are you asking me those things? What is it in relation to the case?”

She confirmed to counsel that she did not want to answer the question.

Asked if she was aware that Marcus had had a sexual encounter with Larisa and whether there was “mutual jealousy” between the couples, Ms Serban said: “Sorry, I don’t want to say no more here”.

Ms Serban will continue giving evidence on Tuesday before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and an enlarged jury of 11 men and four women.