The sister of a man who was killed after a knife was allegedly thrown at him has welcomed the arrest of a woman in the unusual case.
Juris Viktorovs (36) was found dead with a knife wound to the chest in his home in Ballyconnell, Co Wicklow, on Thursday, February 10.
Yesterday, gardai announced that they had “re-arrested” a woman in her 30s in relation to the killing - which took place at Juris's home during a social gathering five months ago.
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The woman, who is understood to have been a pal of Juris and was previously arrested along with a man in February, was last night being held at Bray Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
The woman's arrest comes months after Juris's devastated partner Brenda Kane alleged to The Star that he was killed right in front of her - after the knife was "thrown" at him by another person.
It is understood that the arrested woman, who is not Ms Kane, was known to Juris and is alleged to have had an argument with him during a social gathering at the house in the moments before his death.
And speaking exclusively to The Star last night Juris’s sister Ilva Nikitina said the arrest was a welcome development after five months of hell for her and her family.
“I’m so happy at the moment because it’s been months and we’ve been just waiting for it. I kind of lost hope after a few months. This is great news. I can’t wait to tell the rest of the family,” Ilva said.
Ilva says she now hopes the recent development will finally put together the puzzle pieces of what exactly happened to her brother.
“I hope we get answers,” she said.
Previously Juris’s partner Brenda Kane spoke to The Star and claimed she witnessed the shocking incident that saw a person throw a knife at him following a verbal row.
Ms Kane said she desperately tried to save Jurius’s life with CPR - but he was already gone.
“It hit me straight away (that he was dead). I did CPR on him but I couldn’t save him. I just remember a knife being thrown and that was it. It hit him in the chest. No one expected it to happen.
“I had one of my jumpers on his wound and pressed down on his chest a few times and breathed in through his mouth, but he just went cold,” she said.
The horrified partner claimed that Juris was hit with the knife after an individual “came into our room looking for a cigarette.” She claimed that another person - a woman - then “came in going crazy” because they wanted that person to leave the room.
It was then that Ms Kane claimed that the knife was thrown - and that later an individual came into the room and claimed her boyfriend wasn’t dead.
“(They) first came in and checked him and they started screaming ‘he’s f*cking dead’. Then (they) came back in again, checked him and said ‘oh he's ok he’s just very drunk, he’s sleeping.
“But I knew that wasn’t the case. I’d already called for an ambulance straight away and I was waiting for the ambulance at this time,” she said.
She added that she was in shock over the incident and was deeply upset about the loss of her partner.
“I’m still grieving. I’m not coping. “He was the love of my life,” she said.
In a press release issued yesterday, gardai announced the arrest of a woman in relation to the fatal assault.
“A female in her 30s has been re-arrested as part of the investigation into the fatal assault of a male that occurred at a house in Ballyconnell, Shillelagh, County Wicklow, on Thursday, 10th February, 2022,” a garda spokesperson said.
“She is currently detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Bray Garda station.
“Investigations are ongoing.”
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