A woman has described to a murder trial jury how her partner collapsed after he was stabbed by their housemate in their own bedroom.
Nicola Brennan (33), of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her housemate, Latvian native Juris Viktorovs (36), at Shillelagh, Ballyconnell, County Wicklow, on February 10th, 2022.
Ms Brennan lived at the address with Viacestaus Narnickis – known as 'Young Slav' – who was the accused's partner at the time and with whom she shared a room. The jury has heard that Mr Narnickis was not involved in the stabbing and no charges were brought against him.
At the Central Criminal Court on Friday, the girlfriend of the deceased, Brenda Kane, told the jury that she saw Ms Brennan enter their bedroom after all four housemates had been drinking that day and stab Mr Viktorovs while he was rolling a cigarette for Young Slav.
Ms Kane told Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, that she and Mr Viktorovs were in bed watching television when Young Slav came into their bedroom, where he told them that Ms Brennan had taken all the tobacco and asked for a cigarette.
The witness told Colman Cody SC, defending, that she was sitting upright when she heard the accused shouting outside her bedroom door. Ms Kane said she then witnessed Ms Brennan throwing something into the room which travelled over the bed before the accused then "stabbed" Mr Viktorovs where he sat on the side of the bed.
Ms Kane said she witnessed Ms Brennan brandish a dark-handled knife that was received as a present from the partner of a regular visitor to the house known as 'Old Slav'.
The witness told Ms Murphy that Ms Brennan, who had previously gone to bed on the night, had gotten back up and was shouting at Young Slav "you no go for me" and had thrown "something" into the bedroom but the witness could not say what that item was.
Ms Kane said Ms Brennan then entered the room and went to Mr Viktorovs side of the bed and that "she [Ms Brennan] stabbed Juris".
Ms Kane said that after she saw Ms Brennan stab Mr Viktorovs the deceased tried to get up but only made it to the end of the bed, where he fell.
Ms Kane said she made a 999 call to emergency services and that Ms Brennan then came back into the bedroom saying to the deceased: "Juris, you're not dead".
The witness said that in the days after Ms Brennan was released from Garda custody she had a brief meeting with the accused at a friend's house, where Ms Brennan said to her that Mr Viktorovs had suffered a "heart attack" and that "the little small cut couldn’t have killed him".
Ms Kane told Mr Cody that drinking sessions involving all four occupants, sometimes involving guests, in the house occurred "every few days", sometimes starting at midday and continuing over a long number of hours.
Ms Kane said that on the night of Mr Viktorovs' death the pair were hungover, were "tired but okay" from the previous day's drinking and went to the bedroom where they shared a bottle of Bulmers cider.
The trial before a jury of eight men and four women continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott on Monday and is expected to last up to three weeks.
In her opening speech, Ms Murphy said it was "fair to say" that all four occupants of the house and Old Slav “drank heavily on a regular basis”.
Counsel said that after he was stabbed, Mr Viktorovs took the knife out of his chest and laid on the ground.
999 calls
She told the jury that a number of 999 calls were then made and that it is the prosecution’s case that the accused made a number of comments during this time.
Ms Murphy said it became clear that Mr Viktorovs had died and it was fair to say that things were “somewhat chaotic” in the house.
The knife believed to be the murder weapon was found in the room, plunged into a mattress and the DNA of the deceased was found on the tip of the knife, said counsel.
Ms Brennan’s clothes were seized and the blood of the deceased was found on the cuff of the pyjamas she was wearing at the time, she said. False nails were found discarded and they were a match for the ones found at the house, Ms Murphy added.
