Murder accused denies ex-girlfriend was 'under duress' before death

A Romanian man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend in Dublin last year denied that she was under duress when he filmed her in the shower weeks before she died.

Mihalache Marian (aged 49), with an address in Romania has pleaded not guilty to murdering 35-year-old Loradena Pricajan on January 28, 2010.

The Romanian nurse was found dead in the defendant’s bedroom at the Irish Management Institute (IMI) in Sandyford. She had two cut-throat wounds to her neck.

The accused was the only other person in the room and he also had neck wounds. He said she had caused his wounds, not the other way around.

Detective Sergeant Eugene Stapleton told the Central Criminal Court today that during garda questioning, he showed the accused mobile phone footage found at the scene.

The defendant agreed that he had taken the video of Ms Pricajan naked in her shower some weeks earlier. He agreed that he was questioning her about another man in the footage, said the detective.

It was put to him that she seemed under duress.

“No I didn’t see her under duress,” he said.

It was put to him that she seemed be crying while sitting in the shower.

“Not because of me,” he replied. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

He said he was "just teasing her" when he threatened to put the footage on Youtube "so people can know you’re a whore".

The gardaí put it to him that he seemed to be someone who wanted control, that Ms Pricajan had tried to walk away from him and so he killed her.

“She had lots of her own money and a new boyfriend and she didn’t want you anymore,” suggested gardaí in an interview.

“I didn’t know that. She was saying she still loves me,” he replied.

He was asked why a map of her workplace was found in his room at the IMI. He said he wanted to know where she worked. When asked why he didn’t just ring her, he said he hadn’t thought of it. He denied not wanting her to know that he was in Dublin.

The defendant had told gardaí that Ms Pricajan had cut his throat, that he had fallen unconscious and didn’t know what had happened after that.

It was put to him that one of the knives he had brought with him from Romania had been found covered in blood on the locker beside her.

“Are you suggesting that she did this to herself and left the knife neatly on the locker?” he was asked.

“I didn’t kill Loradena. I don’t know what happened,” he replied.

Last week, the doctor who treated him told the trial that his wounds were most likely self-inflicted.

Meanwhile, the pathologist who examined Ms Pricajan said her wounds were most likely not self-inflicted.

The court also heard yesterday from Ms Pricajan’s boyfriend around the time of her death, Christian Sirbu.

He said he was at home in Belgium on Christmas morning 2010 when he got a call from Ms Pricajan asking him to open Skype on his computer to talk to her.

“I opened it and saw somebody else,” he said, indicating that it was the accused.

“He asked me to come over and spend Christmas and New Year with them like a big happy family,” said Mr Sirbu. “He said he just want to meet me, to know who I am.”

Mr Sirbu said he told the defendant that he was having his own Christmas.

“He told me eventually he was going to meet me,” testified Mr Sirbu.

Mr Sirbu flew to Dublin on January 11 to spend time with Ms Pricajan and left on January 26.

The prosecution evidence has now concluded in the trial before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of seven men and five women.