A 33-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of Ioana Mihaela Pacala in Co Meath.
The body of the 30-year-old was discovered at a duplex apartment in Riverwalk Court in Ratoath, shortly after 6pm on Saturday evening.
Andrei Marian Dobra, with an address at the same location, was arrested at the scene and questioned at Ashbourne Garda Station, where he was charged with her murder.
The accused, who has been living in Ireland for seven years, appeared before Trim District Court this morning.
Detective Garda Michelle O'Brien told the court that she charged him at 23.51pm last night in Ashbourne Garda Station.
After he was charged and cautioned, Detective Garda O'Brien said the accused replied: "I'm so sorry for that. It should not have happened."
Mr Dobra made no comment during the brief appearance.
His solicitor, Maurice Regan, made an application for free legal aid for his client and also requested that a psychiatric assessment and report be carried out.
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Judge Miriam Walsh granted the applications and also assigned a Romanian translator.
Judge Walsh remanded Mr Dobra to Cloverhill Prison in Dublin to appear before the court again on Thursday via video link.
There was no application for bail, which can only be made in the High Court, due to the seriousness of the charge.
It is understood Mr Dobra and Ms Pacala, who are both originally from Romania, had only moved into the property last weekend.
