A man (39) has been remanded in custody after he was charged with murder of a mother (43) of three found with stab wounds in a house in Waterford city earlier this week.
Tomas Marvanek, of Grange Heights, John’s Hill, Waterford, appeared before a special sitting of Waterford District Court on Wednesday evening charged with the murder of Yveta Donovalova at Grange Heights on April 27th.
Det Garda Sean Lane of Waterford Garda station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told the court that Marvanek said “I have nothing to say” to the charge when it was put to him after caution following his arrest shortly after midnight on April 29th.
Judge Kevin Staunton noted that as bail was not available on a murder charge in the District Court, it would be a remand in custody. Defence solicitor Ken Cunningham acknowledged that and suggested that his client would be remanded in custody for a week.
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Marvanek was accompanied by an interpreter in the dock. When the judge queried if English was Marvanek’s first language, Cunningham confirmed that it wasn’t and that he was a Czech national. The judge assigned the same interpreter to assist him.
Cunningham also asked that his client be medically and psychiatrically evaluated on arrival in prison on remand and the judge ordered that he be so assessed, before remanding him to appear by video-link at Waterford District Court on May 5th.
Cunningham also made an application for free legal aid.
The judge granted the application and assigned Cunningham to represent the accused, who did not speak during the four-minute hearing.
Donovalova, who lived at the house in Grange Heights with her husband and three children and the accused, had moved to Ireland over a decade ago and had worked in Waterford as a cleaner.
