A 51-year-old fishmonger has been jailed for life for the murder of his former partner in front of their six-year-old daughter over two-and-a-half years ago.
Edmundas Dauksa, of Castletown Road in Dundalk, Co Louth, stabbed Ingrida Maciokaite 19 times in the courtyard of her home at Bridgewater Mews in Dundalk on 18 September 2018.
The attack took place four days after he lost custody of their child.
Dauksa was a married man who developed a relationship with 31-year-old Ingrida Maciokaite.
Originally from Lithuania, they had two children together and had in place what the court heard was "an unusual arrangement" whereby their daughter lived with Dauksa and his wife and the girl's mother would see her on occasion.
The child was very much part of Dauksa's family, but Ms Maciokaite wanted more access to her daughter and on 14 September 2018, a judge granted her custody.
The court heard that when his daughter was taken from him, Dauksa was "a broken man".
An arrangement was made that his daughter would be brought to his house four days later on 18 September but when Ms Maciokaite did not turn up, Dauksa went to her home and confronted her in the courtyard.
He stabbed his former partner 19 times under a darkened archway in front of their six-year-old daughter.
A woman told the trial that she heard the child screaming that afternoon and carried her away from her mother’s body.
Dauksa claimed he felt "wronged and wronged again" by a system that had "failed him appallingly" after Ms Maciokaite received custody of the child in a District Court hearing that to him was "abnormal and accelerated".
He pleaded not guilty but the jury rejected his defence that he had not been "fueled by murderous intent" and convicted him of murder.
In a victim impact statement, the foster carer for Ms Maciokaite's two children described her as a gentle and soft-spoken woman whose main priority was to have both her children by her side and bring the joy and happiest possible memories to their childhood.
She said the victim's young daughter had been left sad and afraid with sleepless nights and "always questioning why daddy did this to mammy".
The court was told that Dauksa wanted to express his remorse and deep regret for the sadness he had caused.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced him to the mandatory term of life in prison.
