Freiberg found guilty of murder and sentenced to life

A 30 year-old Clonmel man has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life at the Central Criminal Court for murdering his former girlfriend's boyfriend.

A jury found Alex Freiberg guilty of murdering Kieran Cambridge by a majority of ten to two following nearly seven hours of deliberation over two days.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed the mandatory life sentence on Freiberg who had denied murdering the 45 year-old Cork man at Carrigeen Close, Clonmel, Co Tipperary on September 16, 2007.

Alex Freiberg (aged 30), of Bridgewater House, Clonmel, was unhappy about Catherine Shanahan's new relationship and he went to her home armed with two knives. He threatened Ms Shanahan and then went upstairs and fatally stabbed Mr Cambridge, who was in bed.

The victim's son Robert Cambridge gave victim-impact evidence following the verdict in which he described his father as his best friend. He said the deceased had always been there for his family and would have done anything for his children.

Robert Cambridge said he did not know what he would say to his younger siblings who had lost their father. He said he was distraught at the tragedy.

The jury had heard that Ms Shanahan was a woman in her 30s who had had substance abuse problems. She met the deceased when she attended a six-week rehabilitation course and they began a relationship. Mr Cambridge was staying at her home at Carrigeen Close on the night he died.

Freiberg had been in a relationship with Ms Shanahan from April 2004 until June 2007. He was unhappy about her new relationship and sent a number of threatening text messages to her phone the day of the attack, including: "This will be a night from hell."

Ms Shanahan, Mr Cambridge and another friend had been drinking in her house until Mr Cambridge went to bed and Ms Shanahan drove her friend home in the early hours. When she arrived home Freiberg came in the back door armed with two knives. He held one to her throat and threatened her before going upstairs.

Mr Cambridge suffered two very serious stab wounds and a number of other cuts.

One wound to the side of his chest penetrated his lungs and killed him.

Ms Shanahan raised the alarm with her neighbours but the deceased was dead by the time an ambulance arrived.

The jury heard that the knives were never found and there was no forensic evidence linking Freiberg to the scene. Ms Shanahan told gardaí at the scene that Freiberg was the attacker and he was arrested at a friend's house in the hours following the murder.

Gardaí found that he had showered and washed his clothes, including his runners, at the friends house in the early hours. The jury also heard that a taxi had dropped Freiberg to Ms Shanahan's estate in the early hours and that his friend had picked him up some time later.

During the trial, the defence called Louise Maguire, the girlfriend of Freiberg's best friend and occupier of the house he was arrested in. She said that Ms Shanahan had told her that she was not sure who had entered her house on the night of Mr Cambridge's death.

The defence said that the case rested entirely on one witness who was unreliable and a liar. The jury also heard that Ms Shanahan had made regular prison visits to Freiberg since his arrest for the murder. She told the court that she had been "lookng for answers".

The jury of seven men and five women spent two nights in a hotel before convicting Freiberg and was excused from further service for 10 years.