Jury begins deliberating in trial of woman accused of murdering former lover

A jury has begun considering its verdict in the trial of a woman accused of murdering her housemate and former lover following a day of heavy drinking.

Counsel for Nicola Brennan urged the jury to find her not guilty as they could not rely on the evidence of the prosecution’s primary witness - the late Juris Viktorov’s partner - who said she saw the accused inflict the fatal injury on the 36-year-old.

The jury of eight men and four women spent nearly two hours considering their verdict on Thursday and will return to the Central Criminal Court on Friday to resume their deliberations.

Ms Brennan (33), of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Viktorovs, originally from Latvia, at Shillelagh, Ballyconnell, Co Wicklow on February 10th, 2022.

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The trial has previously heard that the accused was going out with Viacestaus Narnickis, referred to in the trial as “Young Slavik”, and was living in the same house as the deceased and his girlfriend Brenda Kane.

The jury was told that gardaí were satisfied Mr Narnickis was not involved in the stabbing and no charges were brought against him.

Ms Brennan told gardaí that she’d previously had a “fling” with Mr Viktorovs but denied that he died after she went into “a fit of jealousy and rage”. She first told gardaí that Young Slavik carried out the attack before later saying it was “maybe” Mr Viktorovs’ partner who had stabbed him. She denied being jealous of Ms Kane.

The prosecution relied on the eye-witness evidence from Ms Kane and on what it alleged were lies told by Ms Brennan to cover her guilt.

Fiona Murphy SC, in her closing speech for the prosecution, said the independent forensic evidence, including the deceased’s blood being on the cuff of Ms Brennan’s pyjama top, supported Ms Kane’s version of events.

Colman Cody SC, for Ms Brennan, went through the forensic evidence and suggested that the jury create a “checklist of the various grounds advanced”.

“When you drill down into the foundations of the prosecution case and carry out that forensic exercise that you must do, I would suggest that the cracks begin to become very visible in their case,” he said.

Mr Cody asked the jury if they can “really know or be sure as to what in fact transpired in that bedroom in the moments leading up to the tragic and untimely death of Mr Viktorovs”.

Given the level of intoxication of all present and the “chaotic” circumstances, he asked the jurors if they could draw conclusions with certainty.

“I say you have not been put in that position and I say to you the appropriate and proper verdict is a finding of not guilty of the murder of Juris Viktorovs.”

Mr Justice Paul McDermott said a finding of murder requires that the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms Brennan inflicted the fatal wound and at the time she intended to kill or cause serious harm.

A person who commits an unlawful killing but without the necessary intent is guilty of manslaughter, not murder, he said.

He asked the jury to look at the injury suffered by the deceased - a single stab wound to the chest that pierced the vena cava, the main vein bringing blood to the heart. He also told them to consider the background circumstances and the level of alcohol consumption in the house at the time.

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