Girl, 2, saw grandfather stab her parents before fatally injuring himself, inquest hears

Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard that Virgil Gherghel was annoyed that his wife was working in a nursing home as he felt she could earn more money if she worked with him in a cleaning contract firm. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

A man stabbed his daughter and son-in-law in a row in their family home in Dublin before fatally injuring himself in an incident witnessed by his two-year-old granddaughter, an inquest has heard.

Virgil Gherghel (46) was pronounced dead in hospital from a self-inflicted wound to his chest at his home in Ashfield Park, Huntstown on October 4, 2021.

Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard the deceased, a Romanian national, had arrived in Ireland just three months earlier with his wife and son to move in with his married daughter’s family.

Several members of Mr Gherghel’s family explained in written statements read out at the inquest that Mr Gherghel was annoyed that his children had sided with his wife after she had separated from him and moved out of the house in Ashfield Park in the weeks before the fatal incident.

The deceased’s daughter, Bianca Andries, described her father as “a bomb waiting to explode". The coroner, Cróna Gallagher, said no members of the Gherghel family had been required to attend the hearing as they remained “extremely traumatised” by the fatal incident.

Ms Andries said her father was annoyed that his wife was working in a nursing home as he felt she could earn more money if she worked with him in a cleaning contract firm.

Although she tried to convince him to return to Romania after her mother had moved out, Ms Andries said her father wanted to stay in Ireland to allow the couple to get back together. When informed that his wife wanted a divorce, Ms Andries said her father replied: “I am going to kill you but a divorce is not going to happen.” 

Stabbing

She recalled being surprised when her father returned home early from work at around 2pm on October 4, 2021, but he explained he had a headache. The inquest heard Ms Andries was in the kitchen preparing dinner while talking to her father when he became angry.

She said before she knew what was happening, her father moved towards her and started stabbing her in the chest with a large kitchen knife. She recalled collapsing on the kitchen floor as she screamed for help and tried to fight off her father who was continuing to try to stab her.

Ms Andries said her father immediately moved toward her husband, Vasile, after he came rushing downstairs with their young daughter in his arms. She said she managed to bring the little girl to safety in the back garden but collapsed with her daughter in her arms before passing out and waking up in an ambulance.

Mr Andries recounted how he came across Mr Gherghel sitting on top of his daughter on the kitchen floor and stabbing her repeatedly. He said his father-in-law stabbed him in the hand while saying: “Why did you do this to me?” 

He managed to make it back upstairs where he called gardaí and returned to the garden where he found Mr Gherghel, who was still holding the knife in his hand, about 1.5 metres away from Bianca. Mr Andries said Mr Gherghel stood up and started walking towards him but he managed to get back into the house and locked the door.

The inquest heard that gardaí who arrived on the scene found Mr Gherghel lying on the ground in pools of blood with the knife beside him. Post-mortem results showed he had lost almost two litres of blood as a result of a self-inflicted knife wound to the left side of his chest. The autopsy confirmed he died of hypovolemic shock due to his injuries.

Ms Gherghel's statement

In a statement, Ms Gherghel said her husband had visited a doctor while they were in Germany as he had some mental health issues but had stopped taking the medication he had been prescribed. She described her late partner as being “very controlling” and “threatening” and recalled that he had first slapped her on their wedding day.

The inquest heard that he had been arrested by police in Germany on New Year’s Day in 2021 after pulling a knife out on his wife in their bedroom. Ms Gherghel said she had decided around that time that she wanted a divorce as her husband was always threatening her.

“The words ‘I will kill you’ are so normal in my head,” said Ms Gherghel. She claimed nobody living in their home in Ashfield Park felt safe around her husband as they were frightened of him.

Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue told the hearing that the deceased’s wife had contacted gardaí the day before the fatal incident over her concerns about her husband. He told the coroner that gardaí had no immediate concerns as Ms Gherghel had moved out of the family home and there was no indication that what he described as “a spontaneous attack” was going to happen.

Offering her condolences to the Gherghel family on a “very shocking and tragic death,” Dr Gallagher returned a verdict of self-inflicted death. “I’m sure the trauma from this day will stay with you forever,” she concluded.