Murder trial told of bloody footprints

Bloody footprints were found almost all over the semi-detached, two-storey house in which the bodies of 27-year-old Lithuanian woman Jolanta Lubiene and her eight-year-old daughter Enrika were discovered on June 16, 2013.

Bloodstains were wide-spread throughout the house, on walls, banisters, doors, floors, and curtains. Bloody pawprints from a dog were also found in the Killorglin house. There was blood on radiators and a handprint in blood.

Aurimas Andruska, 27 originally from Lithuania, and working in Kerry as a tree planter, with an address at Ardmoniel Heights, Killorglin, has pleaded not guilty to the murders at the rented home at 9 Langford Downs between June 15 and June 17, 2013.

Detective Garda Ronan Lawlor, who is attached to the Garda Technical Bureau and who works in forensics, gave evidence about a piece of a blade found underneath the head of Ms Lubiene while, upstairs, the tip of a blade was discovered near the trunk of the dead child.

Det Gda Lawlor told Isobel Kennedy, prosecuting, that he examined 12 footwear marks in blood in particular. The length of the footwear was 31cm, and a cross-pattern was “unique” to all the marks in blood.

There was no other type of footprint in blood, and these marks were found on the landing, the kitchen, and the master bedroom.

The detective agreed with Brendan Grehan, SC for the defence, cross-examining, that despite intensive searches of the house, the handle and blade of the pieces of the knife found near the bodies were not found there.

The detective agreed he had to be selective and could not swab or sample every square inch of the house. He said he had chosen 12 good-quality footprints from among “the numerous” found throughout the house. He also agreed with Mr Grehan that the whole house, with some exceptions, was a scene where blood was present.

The trial, in its ninth day, also heard how Det Lawlor entered through the back door of the utility room, which had not been forced. Ms Lubiene was lying on her right side, facing the utility room door. Upstairs, Enrika was lying in a pool of blood.

Bloody footprints were going in different directions and blood was on the floor, walls, and numerous areas of the kitchen. There were two slippers in different locations, one near the oven, the other near a kitchen table.

There were paw prints in blood throughout the house because of the presence of a dog. Going up the stairs, there were numerous footprints in blood, and a handprint in blood on the left wall going up the stairs. “It was made in blood,” Det Lawlor said, describing the hand print.

Boxes and packages were parcelled up as if someone was moving. There was blood on the curtain as well. Some door handles and light switches were also covered in blood. There was no blood in the bathrooms upstairs or toilet downstairs.

The trial continues.