Woman found not guilty of her housemate’s murder

A Central Criminal Court jury has found a woman not guilty of the murder but guilty of the manslaughter of her housemate and former partner.

During the trial, the court heard that Monika Matracka (35) told gardaí she had killed Michal Rejmer (38), but that she had been defending herself and was "the victim" in the incident at their house in Limerick.

On Tuesday, a jury of six men and six women found Matracka not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by a majority verdict of 11-1.

They had deliberated for five hours and 38 minutes.

Matracka, with an address at The Pines, Briarfield, Castletroy, Limerick, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Michal Rejmer at that address at a time unknown between 8pm on December 30th and midnight on December 31st, 2015.

Mr Justice Paul Butler thanked the jury for their time and exempted them from jury service for a period of 10 years.

The case was put in for mention on March 6th. Mr Justice Butler remanded Matracka in custody until that date.

The court heard there will be no victim impact statement.

Financial help

The eight-day trial heard that Mr Rejmer had helped Matracka out financially when she was studying in Poland in 2009.

Matracka told gardaí that Mr Rejmer demanded his money back on December 30th, 2015.

She said he told her that if he did not get it, she “would have to say bye-bye to life”, before cutting her left hand with a knife.

She told gardaí she then stabbed Mr Rejmer in self-defence: “I did it. It was me. I killed Michal.”

Mr Rejmer was reported missing on January 6th, 2016, after colleagues became concerned when he had not turned up for work at McDonald’s in Castletroy for a number of days. He was last seen on December 30th, 2015.

Mr Rejmer’s body was discovered during a search by his friend and a local volunteer at the rear of the house in Castletroy under some plastic sheeting, on January 8th, 2016.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy gave evidence in the trial and told the jury that Mr Rejmer died as a result of bleeding from stab wounds to the arms.

The deceased’s body remained in the house for at least three days before Matracka moved it to the back garden.