Detective denies he had 'already judged' murder accused before garda interview

Ryan Dunne

A detective has rejected a defence claim that he had “already judged” a 37-year-old man who is accused of murdering his partner and decided he had committed the crime before his garda interview began.

“He spoke about how he had stabbed her in the heart area and the noise she made,” said Detective Sergeant Robert Madden, during cross-examination in the trial of Daniel Blanaru (37).

Mr Blanaru, from Rathmore, Athboy, Co Meath, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Larisa Serban (26) on or about August 12th, 2022. It is the State's case that she was stabbed to death by Mr Blanaru, whom they argue was a “jealous” and "controlling" partner.

The jury previously heard that in garda interview, Mr Blanaru said that he “might have” stabbed Larisa with a “very sharp” knife, but he could not say how deep into her body it went. He also told gardaí: “I am guilty, I killed her. Please lock me up.”

At the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, Det Sgt Madden, who interviewed the accused at Ashbourne Garda Station on August 12th, 2022, was cross-examined by defence counsel, Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC.

Mr Ó Lideadha put it to the witness that he “had already judged” Mr Blanaru before beginning the interview, having already decided that the accused had committed murder.

“I was there to get an account from the suspect. With every murder investigation, we approach it with an open mind. This was his opportunity to give his account,” replied Det Sgt Madden.

“He’d admitted stabbing her in the previous interview, so you had made up your mind,” said Mr Ó Lideadha.

The detective replied that if a suspect admits something, this must be corroborated with evidence. He said that Mr Blanaru was a suspect who had to comment on the evidence put to him.

Mr Ó Lideadha put it to the witness that the gardaí had photos of the crime scene, but the main feature of these was “the face and body of Larisa lying dead on the floor”.

He asked what the purpose was of showing Mr Blanaru these photos, to which Det Sgt Madden replied that it was to establish the location of the murder weapon.

Mr Ó Lideadha next asked the witness whether he had been aware that Mr Blanaru had been awake for the whole night before being interviewed.

Det Sgt Madden said that he was not aware of exactly when the accused had slept, but he knew that Mr Blanaru had been assessed by a doctor and deemed fit to be interviewed.

“Do you accept as a matter of common sense that a person who hasn’t slept for 24 hours or more, that can have an adverse effect on their cognitive abilities and their ability to interact with the demands of an interview process?” asked Mr Ó Lideadha.

“The common sense approach is to let a doctor make that assessment,” replied Det Sgt Madden.

Mr Ó Lideadha asked the witness if he had been aware that any reference to the accused’s children was liable to make him upset and start crying.

Det Sgt Madden replied that he did not know if he had mentioned anything about the accused’s children, but he said that Mr Blanaru was upset from the start of the interview.

The detective went on to say: “We were there to do a job. It’s difficult, he was upset, but someone being upset doesn’t preclude us from putting the evidence to him.”

Mr Ó Lideadha suggested to the witness that he had said things to cause Mr Blanaru pain in order to get information, but Det Sgt Madden denied this.

Defence counsel said that in the interview, Mr Blanaru said that he had been up for two days with no food, and yet the gardaí did not say that they had any concerns about his fitness to be interviewed.

“He said he had been drinking alcohol and taking drugs, but he didn’t appear under the influence,” replied Det Sgt Madden.

The witness went on to say: “He spoke about how he had stabbed her in the heart area and the noise she made.”

He said that the accused was asked how many times he stabbed her, to which Mr Blanaru had replied that he did not know. “He said that there was no point in lying anymore, which suggested that he had lied before,” said Det Sgt Madden.

Mr Ó Lideadha pointed out that what the accused had said was that he had “possibly” stabbed her while they were struggling.

“On various occasions, he says ‘possibly’, and you turn that into stabbing her in the heart,” said Mr Ó Lideadha.

“We know she was stabbed in the heart, and we know he had a knife in his hand,” replied Det Sgt Madden.

The trial continues on Friday before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and an enlarged jury of 11 men and four women.