A sister of a man killed by a knife that struck him in the chest has called on the “monsters” responsible to confess what they’ve done.
In an exclusive interview with our sistle title The Star, Ilva Nikitina said her brother Juris Viktorovs, who was killed after an alleged row at a social gathering in Co Wicklow, didn’t deserve to die - as she also told of the family’s plans to bring his body back to his native home of Latvia.
“We want justice. That’s all we want.
“We want the monsters responsible behind bars. I know I shouldn’t say that but they shouldn't be walking the streets. It's just heartbreaking,” she said.
Tragic Juris, 36, was found dead with a knife wound to the chest in the home he shared with girlfriend Brenda Kane in Ballyconnell, Co Wicklow, on Thursday, February 10.
No one has been charged with his death - though a man and a woman were arrested by gardai over what they have called a “fatal assault” and subsequently released without charge - with a file going to the DPP.
Last week Juris’s devastated girlfriend Brenda, who was not among those arrested, told how she tried to save Juris’s life after she witnessed a knife get “thrown at him” - and strike him in the chest.
And now, Juris’s sister Ilva told how she’s now bringing her brother’s body home to Latvia - where he will be buried near his family.
“He’s going home. He will be buried at home.
“All of his friends are there and his brother and other sister are there as well. That's the right thing to do, to bring him home,” she said.
And Ilva says she’s now putting her faith in gardai to uncover what happened on the night of her brother’s savage killing.
“There’s lots of unanswered questions. But we will get to the bottom of that, and I believe justice will be served,” she said.
“It’s very traumatic. None of us can believe what happened.
“But we’d rather that the gardai take their time and get all of the facts straight. We have faith that justice will be served,” she said.
And in a message directly to those responsible for her brother’s killing, Ilva said: “Just confess and do the right thing and say what you have done.”
Ilva, who lives in Carrick-On-Suir, says she was very close with her brother and was in a state of disbelief when she heard of his tragic death.
“I heard the news from my older sister. I couldn’t believe it when I got the news so I called Juris’s mother and I asked if it was true because I couldn’t believe it.
“When he came to visit me we had loads of conversations. Myself and Juris, we could talk about anything and we could spend hours and hours chatting away.
“We didn’t have any negative conversations. He never saw bad in anyone. All the memories of him are very positive,” she said.
“He didn’t deserve to die,” she said.
“I can’t even imagine what was going wrong in that house but I just can't imagine my brother being in there,” she added.
Gardai believe a number of people were in the house at the time of the killing, as a social gathering was taking place.
Several of those individuals do not live at the house - and it is suspected that a row escalated to the point where a person known to Juris struck him in the chest with the knife.
Speaking today, Ilva says there wasn’t a bad bone in her brother’s body, and whatever happened that night, he did not deserve what happened to him.
“He was a really loving person. He never saw bad in anyone. He always tried to see good in everyone.
“He was a lovely son to his mam. There was no bad bone in him.
“That's why it's doubly upsetting that he’s gone. He didn’t deserve it,” she said.
Speaking to The Star last week, Juris’s girlfriend Brenda described what she witnessed - and how she tried to save his life.
“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.
Some of the details of what Brenda says she witnessed cannot be published for legal reasons - but she claims an argument took place in the home - and that the knife was thrown during the process.
She told how an individual “came into our room looking for a cigarette” and that another person then “came in going crazy” because they wanted that person to leave the room.
It was then that Brenda says 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***ing 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.
Brenda also said she was still in shock over the incident, and is 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.
