The jury in the trial of a man who is accused of murdering his wife has been told that the mother of one died of a 14cm "single swipe" incised knife cut to her neck which resulted in the loss of massive amounts of blood.
Regin Parithapara Rajan, 43, is on trial at Cork Central Criminal Court charged with the murder of his wife 38-year-old Deepa Dinamani at the home they had moved in to in March 2023.
The couple had left India with their young son so that Ms Dinamani, who was a chartered accountant, could take up a job opportunity in Cork.
Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan told the court that Ms Dinamani, from Kerala in India, would have been unable to speak once the wound was inflicted.
Dr Mulligan carried out the post-mortem examination on the remains of the deceased on 15 July 2023, the day after she was found dead in a blood-soaked bed at Cardinal Court in Wilton in Cork city.
Dr Mulligan had requested that she have sight of the knife which was recovered from the property where Ms Dinamani was found dead.
She noted that blood and tissue was on the blade of a knife recovered from the scene. The Go Cook steel knife was 32cm in length with the blade measuring 20cm in length with a width of 2.5cm.
Dr Mulligan said Ms Dinamani had suffered an incised wound measuring 6.8cm in length on her left forearm in addition to some bruising on her body.
She said that the wound to the neck seemed to have been carried out "in a single swipe" or movement. Dr Mulligan said the injuries could have been caused by the knife shown to her or by a similar weapon.
Photographic evidence
Dr Mulligan told jurors that photographs from the scene indicated that Ms Dinamani was found lying on her back in a bed at her family home.
She said there was "significant blood stains on the bed and pillows" and a "dynamic blood spray" in the room. She noted that two blood-stained teddy bears were found in the area where Ms Dinamani was located.
Detective Garda Kenneth Lawton, who gave the accused a legal caution at the scene in Cardinal Court in Wilton on 14 July 2023, said he asked the accused man what had happened at the property.
Det Gda Lawton noted the reply from Mr Rajan: "She (Deepa) was cheating on me. She was having an affair and he lives in London. I just found out today. I saw the messages that were on her phone (details of passwords) and I could not tolerate it. It was very ugly messages.
"I just stabbed her with a knife in the throat, she was cheating on me, I could not tolerate that. I will take any sentence. I committed a crime. I could not take this. She was the love of my life.
"And this is the second time, sorry to say. I was in depression and family life was not good. I lost 15kgs in the last two months.
"It was good until two months ago. When I knew she was chatting with someone, that is when I became depression.
"I did not do it deliberately. After seeing those messages I did that, sorry to say."
'Very professional and easy to work with'
The trial also heard evidence from Keith Whitney, Director of Funds at Alter Domus Funds Service in Cork. Ms Dinamani had worked for the company in the months before her death.
He said she was offered a senior manager position and she took up employment in April 2023.
Mr Whitney said that Ms Dinamani was "very professional and easy to work with".
He said she had settled in well with her team but that he was aware that she was going through personal issues relating to her marriage.
AJ Raj who lived in the same area as Mr Rajan and Ms Dinamani said that he got to know the accused when he moved to Cork.
He said that he used to go jogging with Mr Rajan who told him that his marriage was not a happy one.
At one stage Mr Raj said the accused came to his house crying and was clearly troubled because of the breakdown in his relationship.
The trial continues tomorrow.
