Mother of woman stabbed to death tells court the accused threatened to kill her daughter

Ryan Dunne

The mother of Larisa Serban, who was found stabbed to death in her home almost three years ago, has told a jury that her daughter’s partner made a threat that if Larisa’s family interfered in their relationship, “he would kill her”.

“She was constantly accused that she didn’t love him and looked at other men,” said Georgeta Serban at the Central Criminal Court on Monday, describing Daniel Blanaru (37) as “extremely possessive, paranoid, and controlling”.

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

Giving evidence through a Romanian interpreter to counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Eilis Brennan SC, Ms Serban said that when the accused came into her daughter's life, she hoped it would distract Larisa a little, and she seemed happy in the beginning. She confirmed that Mr Blanaru did not have stable employment, which caused tension in the relationship.

The witness confirmed to Ms Brennan that the accused “couldn’t leave Larisa alone because he didn’t trust her with other men”. She said that Mr Blanaru became “extremely possessive, paranoid, and controlling”, telling Larisa what to wear and forbidding her to wear tight clothing.

“If he saw somebody speaking with her, he believed she was in a relationship with them,” said the witness.

Ms Serban confirmed that she and her family warned him about his behaviour, but he said not to get involved as Larisa loved him. She also confirmed that the accused said the family did not have the power to separate the couple, “because she loved him very much”.

The witness said that Larisa and the accused split up for a short period of time, but they got back together again because Larisa wanted her daughter to be raised by both parents. She said the couple moved to Belfast for a time because Larisa knew her family did not accept Mr Blanaru, but they later returned to the State.

Ms Serban said that Mr Blanaru had not changed during this time, as “he was jealous and never let her out of his sight”.

After the birth of the couple’s second child together, they moved to Ballymun. Ms Serban said that her daughter was “extremely stressed in the relationship”.

“She was constantly accused that she didn’t love him and looked at other men,” said the witness, adding that her daughter still loved Mr Blanaru very much. They then moved to Rathmore, where the witness said she saw the accused “taking all of Larisa’s social welfare”.

She confirmed that he “remained extremely possessive and kept thinking she had a man under the bed”.

“He always said she brought a man through the window and hid him under the bed,” she said, adding that: “She never had another man, because she loved him very much, but he didn’t believe her.”

Ms Serban said that Larisa was constantly under pressure as Mr Blanaru was always accusing her of lying and cheating, and he was “controlling her”.

She said that a month before Larisa died, Mr Blanaru “made a threat that if we interfered in her family, he would kill her”.

Ms Brennan asked Ms Serban what she had said to Mr Blanaru when he said this, to which the witness replied: “I didn’t believe him because he was always repeating these things when they were fighting. I didn’t want to believe it.”

The witness confirmed that she spoke to Larisa on the phone on the night before she died and her daughter “was very upset”. She confirmed that Larisa had lived “a controlled and closed life” and was “upset and depressed”.

The trial continues tomorrow on Tuesday before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and an enlarged jury of eleven men and four women.