A Polish man who came to Ireland to find a better life instead met a tragic death, his brother said after a man was sentenced to life in prison for his murder.
Krzystof Grzegorski, 22, was found guilty of murdering Bogdan Michalkiewicz, 41, at the victim's home in Westside Apartments, Letterkenny, Co Donegal on 13 May 2013.
He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but the prosecution rejected the plea.
The jury came to their unanimous decision after a little over five hours of deliberations.
Bogdan's brother Tomasz, wrote a victim impact statement that was read to the court by Garda Siobhan McGowan.
He said he and his brother came to Ireland in 2005 to get a better life and described the day he found his brother's body lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his apartment.
He said his mother will never recover from her son’s murder.
"She is 65 years and living in Poland. She suffers from deep depression since Bogdan was killed. My mother went into shock when Bogdan died and lost the mobility in her legs."
Tomasz said he thinks about what happened to Bogdan every day and has not had a proper night's sleep in three years.
"I won't go to bed without checking a couple of times that the doors are closed. I used to trust people, now I don't trust anybody. I feel this strong pain whenever I think about it and blame myself that I should have done more to help him."
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced Grzegorski to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.
During the trial the court heard that Bogdan Michalkiewicz suffered 46 wounds to his head and face, including stab wounds and injuries that pathologist Dr Alison Armour said were consistent with being punched, kicked or being struck with a blunt object.
Grzegorski was arrested after supermarket security guards saw him steal of bottle of vodka and called gardaí.
He spent two days in garda custody and after his release moved to England where he worked for a period of time.
When he heard that another man had been arrested for Bogdan Michalkiewicz’s murder, he came back and confessed his part in his death.
His counsel told the court that his client’s behavior at the time of the killing were irrational and illogical and the evidence showed that Grzegorski was in a "fog of intoxication" and did not know what he was doing when he attacked Bogdan Michalkiewicz.
The trial heard that Grzegorski was drinking heavily at the time of the killing.
Det Garda Alfie McHale said that gardaí in Letterkenny had gotten to know Grzegorski as a problem drinker aged 14. By the time he was 16 he had a conviction for being drunk in public and a danger to himself or others. He was 19 when he murdered Bogdan Michalkiewicz.
A second man, Dariusz Weckowicz, 51, was acquitted of Bogdan's murder by the direction of Mr Justice McCarthy.
Mr Weckowicz was seen on CCTV with Grzegorski in Letterkenny on the day of the killing, and blood spatter on his clothes placed him at the scene when Bogdan Michalkiewicz was killed.
His defence counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, said that the evidence showed nothing more than that he was present at the time, but not that he took part in the attack. He suggested that his client was "passed out" on the sofa.
Mr Justice McCarthy ruled that the evidence could not lead to a guilty verdict and directed that he be acquitted.
