The killing in Ratoath Co Meath of a 30-year-old Romanian woman in 2022 was recalled at an inquest conducted by Coroner for Co Meath Nathaniel Lacy at Navan Courthouse on Monday. A detective Garda told the inquest that he was on duty on 20th November 2022 with two other Gardai when he was made aware of a 999 call being made by a woman requesting that a welfare check be carried out by her friend Ioana Michaela Pacala at River Walk Court Ratoath.
She said she had spoken to Ioana’s partner who told her that he had killed her. Gardai and ambulance personnel were sent tlo the scene. The body of a woman was found in a bedroom. A 36-year-old security guard Andrei Dobra was arrested at the scene. The scene was preserved and an investigation began. On the next day the body of the deceased was conveyed to Navan mortuary. An examination was carried out by Dr Margaret Bolster, Assistant State Pathologist and it was found that strangulation was the primary cause of death.
The trial of Dobra began on 4th July 2024 in the Central Criminal Court and lasted five days. The jury returned s verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. He is detained in a psychiatric institution.
A friend of the deceased Roxanna Devan gave a statement to Gardai which was read into the record by Garda Inspector Alan Roughneen. It said that she met the couple at their home in Ratoath on 11th November 2022 and brought them a coffee machine as a house warming gift. Before she went to the house she had spoken to Michaela by video for 37 minutes and told her that her partner was depressed.
“They were together on the video call and he was sitting there all blank, he didn’t answer anything”, she said. At another time she rang an ambulance after getting a call from Michaela’s sister Lydia. When she spoke to Dobra by phone he said he thought he had killed his partner. A pathologist’s report said that the deceased had suffered injuries consistent with strangulation. The coroner returned a verdict that the deceased died of strangulation wherein the accused was charged with murder reduced to manslaughter but wass found not guilty by reason of insanity.
