Garda search phone and online records of murdered woman in hunt for killer

Locals set up special fund to help family pay for return of bodies to Lithuania

Gardaí investigating the murder of a woman and her eight- year-old daughter in Killorglin, Co Kerry, have begun examining whether the woman may have met someone online who called to the house and killed them following a row.

Jolanta Lubiene (27) was killed along with her daughter Enrika in a frenzied attack at their rented house at Langford Downs, Killorglin, where they had lived for seven years.

Gardaí have started examining Ms Lubiene's activity online in the hope of identifying anyone she befriended with a view to establishing who might have visited her at the house where she and her daughter lived after her husband, Marius Lubys, went to work in Sweden.

It is believed that Ms Lubiene may have been posting online messages in chatrooms for a number of months. Garda computer experts are now assisting the murder investigation team under Garda Supt Flor Murphy of Killarney station.

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Gardaí are also examining Ms Lubiene’s phone records to try and identify people with whom she was in regular contact in case any of them might know of any one who would have wanted to harm her.

An appeal was issued yesterday to members of the Lithuanian community for assistance.

Gardaí have also asked anyone who saw any suspicious activity around Langford Downs on the afternoon of Saturday, June 15th, to contact them at Killarney on 064-667 0180.

Garda Supt Murphy told Radio Kerry that gardaí had had a good public response. “I would appeal to people around Killorglin, had they any concern about any individual over the last few days? Is there any individual or acquaintance or friend acting in different or an unusual way? Has that person left the area in recent days?”

Parish priest Fr Michael Fleming said the local community and Scoil Mhuire National School, where Enrika was a second-class pupil, had organised a special Mass for the family last night before their bodies were repatriated to Lithuania. "We got the information that the family would like that Mass this evening because they are making their arrangements to go back to Lithuania . . . The community and school very much responded in whatever way they can," Fr Fleming said.

A fund has been set up in Killorglin to assist with the €20,000 costs of repatriating the bodies to their home town of Telsiai in western Lithuania.

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times