'I forgave sister's boyfriend for evil act – then he stabbed her to death as kids screamed'

A “monster” who set fire to his girlfriend’s mother’s home was forgiven for the – before he went on to . Daniel Blanaru, 37, was for the “sustained and brutal” murder of his partner, Larisa Serban, 26, earlier this month.

Larisa was killed “in cold blood” after suffering two stab wounds – one to the chest measuring 12cm, which punctured her heart, lung and aorta, and another to the arm, which fractured a bone.

This happened as two of her children, Elisa and David, aged just six and one at the time, were in the house on August 12, 2022. Below we look back at the haunting case in County Meath,, as the victim’s family opened up about the “animal” who tore their lives to shreds.

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Blanaru, from a rural town called Athboy, was in a five-year relationship with Larisa. Her family later learned how the controlling man would place recording devices under her bed to keep track of her conversations, as revealed by the.

And speaking to the publication, Larisa’s sister, Sara, said: “We all forgave him when he set fire to the house simply because he was jealous of the relationship we had with our beautiful sister.

“But when I look back I think he was planning the whole thing because he had been in prison for driving offences in the past and he knew how easy it was.

“I think prison empowered him to commit this awful act because he doesn’t have a care in the and has shown absolutely no remorse for committing such an evil crime.”

Before becoming a murderer, Blanaru torched Larisa’s mum’s home. She later told the Central Criminal Court how it made her “sick” that he is “alive while my daughter is in the ground”.

In a victim impact statement, the heartbroken mum, Georgeta, shared: “When I last saw him, he looked better than he was before he was caught. He was fatter, better fed, than before he killed the mother of my grandkids.”

According to Sara meanwhile, her sister was a devout Christian who saw the good in people, and she used to forgive him for attacking her, because she didn’t want their children to be fatherless.

But Sara described how he went on to show her “no mercy” by torturing and murdering her sister while the kids were there. She said: “What sort of animal can do this to the mother of his children while those kids are now in the house screaming?”

Sara added: “My wonderful sister tried to get her daughter to use the phone, but she couldn’t enter the pin because it was covered in blood. Her children witnessed a bloodbath and were left alone in that house by their so-called-father.”

Just hours after the murder, Blanaru told Irish police officers - Gardai - that he “wasn’t a bad guy”.

He also made up lies and said “she came with a knife at me”. Despite telling a relative he killed her, he went on to plead not guilty. But after three hours of deliberations, he was convicted of murder, and was sentenced to life behind bars earlier this month.

Sara explained that her family has “fallen apart” both emotionally and financially. Describing how her mum and brothers are lost, she said they had been “condemned to a life of suffering”. Her family have since set up a page to help support Larisa’s three children.

Writing on the fundraiser, which at the time of writing had raised over €2,700 (approx £2,300), Isac Serban said: “The only reason we had forgiven his mistakes in the past for all the things he did, was because my sister was a very forgiving person and also an example of a mother who loved her kids so much and still wished to be with him after all he'd done, just for her kids sake.

“My poor sister was a kind angel throughout her life and didn't deserve to die in the way she did. Her three innocent kids didn't deserve to be left without their so beautiful angel mother. Right now, we are all in immense pain and still in shock about what happened. We're all doing our best to find a new home for the kids anywhere in Dublin.”