Less than two weeks after Larisa Serban called emergency services following violence, her partner Daniel Blanaru stabbed her through the heart. Her parents had also heard him threaten to kill her. The Romanian national, whose record included ten earlier convictions in Ireland and France, was unanimously convicted of murder.
The documented warning
The seven-week murder trial heard that Serban had called emergency services after a violent incident less than two weeks before her death. Her parents testified that months earlier Blanaru had threatened that he would kill her. These are evidence heard at trial, not separate convictions; they raise the central unanswered question of what intervention followed the emergency call.
The murder of Larisa Serban
In the early hours of 12 August 2022 at Rathmore, Athboy, Serban sustained two stab wounds. A 12cm chest wound punctured her heart, lung and aorta. A second wound fractured an arm bone and was described as defensive-type. Her blood was found on Blanaru’s clothing, while the fatal weapon was never recovered.
CCTV and trial evidence placed Blanaru leaving around 3.14am, going to his sister’s Drogheda home and travelling north toward Belfast. After relatives found Serban, the car turned back and he presented at Drogheda Garda station at about 6am.
Blanaru gave changing accounts involving accident and self-defence. During his final interview he admitted killing her and asked to be locked up. He nevertheless pleaded not guilty at trial; the jury rejected the defence and unanimously convicted him on 1 April 2025.
Ten earlier convictions
At sentencing, the court heard of six previous Irish road-traffic convictions and four French theft convictions dating from 2008 to 2014. They are not described as prior violent offences because the published categories do not support that claim.
On 10 April 2025 Ms Justice Eileen Creedon imposed mandatory life imprisonment, backdated to custody, and described the killing as needless and horrific violence. No published appeal, transfer, release or immigration outcome was located through 26 July 2026.
Chronology
- 2008–2014: four French theft convictions.
- Before August 2022: six Irish road-traffic convictions.
- Late July or early August 2022: Serban calls emergency services after violence.
- 12 August 2022: murder, travel sequence and surrender.
- 13 August 2022: charged, granted legal aid and remanded.
- 11 February 2025: murder trial begins.
- 1 April 2025: unanimous conviction.
- 10 April 2025: mandatory life sentence.
Cost benchmark
A life sentence has no finite total. The 12-year statutory no-parole-grant floor represents an illustrative €1,188,864 staffed-space comparison at the Irish Prison Service’s 2024 average of €99,072 a year. Parole remains discretionary and is not release at 12 years.
Questions the record leaves
- What response followed Serban’s emergency call less than two weeks before her murder?
- Were the reported threats formally recorded and risk-assessed?
- What did the seven-week trial, investigation and imprisonment cost?
- Has any post-sentence transfer or immigration assessment begun?