Mum and daughter died in frenzied knife attack
The deaths of Lithuanian woman Jolanta Lubiene, 27, and her daughter, Enrika, 8, have stunned the local community.
There were no apparent signs of forced entry to their rented house in Langford Downs, a quiet estate about 500m from the centre of Killorglin.
The last confirmed sighting of Jolanta was on Friday night, but there are unconfirmed reports she was also seen on Saturday.
Gardaí who entered the house were faced with a gruesome scene.
It is understood Jolanta’s body was found in the kitchen area with multiple stab wounds and Enrika’s, which had stab wounds to the neck, was on an upstairs landing.
It is believed the wounds resulted from an apparently frenzied and violent attack.
More than 30 gardaí are working on the case, due to be upgraded to a full-scale murder probe.
Assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster, who had earlier visited the house, was last night carrying out autopsies at Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, to where the bodies were removed from the house by two hearses at teatime.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau examined the scene and the results of their work, as well as the autopsies, will determine the course of the investigation, according to Supt Flor Murphy, Killarney.
Jolanta’s husband, Marius Lubys, 30, flew in from Sweden yesterday afternoon and was being comforted by Jolanta’s sister, Christina, her husband, Vaidos Kulevicini, and other members of the local, close-knit Lithuanian/Polish community.
Jolanta, who had been in Killorglin for over seven years, had planned to return to Lithuania in the next few weeks. She had worked in a local supermarket and a nursing home, as well as assisting the St Vincent de Paul Society with meals-on-wheels.
She was popular in Killorglin and was reasonably well known in the town.
Meanwhile, Enrika’s classmates and teachers at Scoil Mhuire, Killorglin, were trying to come to terms with the tragic news of her death yesterday.
She was a second-class pupil at the school which she has attended since junior infants and had made her First Holy Communion in the town on May 4.
In a statement, the board of management said its sympathy and thoughts are with Enrika’s family, their friends, and the community in Killorglin.
“Enrika was a beautiful child who was loved by all who knew her. She was friendly, kind, caring and considerate of others. She will be sadly missed by her fellow pupils and school staff,” the statement said.
Experts from the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) are giving advice and assistance to staff and pupils, while support is also being provided by local priests and the Catholic diocesan catechetical team.
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