Man (39) died from single 13cm deep stab wound to the chest, pathologist tells trial

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09-07-2025

A 39-year-old man died from a single stab wound to the chest, which measured 13cm in depth, and death would have been very rapid, a pathologist has told the Central Criminal Court.
Valeriu Melnic (24) with an address at Calliaghstown Lower, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, is charged with murdering Ion Daghi (39) at The Close, Sallins Park, Sallins in Co Kildare on May 12th, 2024.
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Mr Melnic has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to Mr Daghi's manslaughter.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster on Wednesday told Carl Hanahoe SC, prosecuting, that she conducted a post mortem on Mr Daghi's remains on May 12th, 2024, after he had been pronounced dead around 5am that morning.
Dr Bolster said she was informed that a physical altercation had occurred between two men.
The witness said she was told a struggle took place and ultimately Mr Daghi was stabbed to the left side of the chest and collapsed almost immediately.
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The witness testified that there was a stab wound on the left side of Mr Daghi's chest around the nipple area, which was 5.9cm from the midline.
Dr Bolster said it was almost a vertically situated stab wound to the top left side of the chest, which extended through the intercostal muscle between the fifth and sixth ribs.
The stab wound had gone through the pericardial sac, and there was 250ml of blood present in that area, which meant the heart couldn't beat properly. The stab wound measured 2.5cm in length.
Dr Bolster said the stab wound had extended into the outer lower aspect of the right ventricle. The stab wound, which measured 13cm in depth, had not gone right through the heart but into the chamber of the heart.
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She said 73 milligrams of ethanol was detected in the deceased's system, which is just over 2.5 pints. This was indicative that Mr Daghi had been drinking up to the time of his death.
In her evidence, Dr Bolster said there were a number of blunt force injuries to the body, including bruising to the back of both hands and the knuckles, which indicated offensive or defensive injuries during the altercation.
The expert witness said Mr Daghi would have collapsed, and death would have been very rapid. There was no evidence of the deceased trying to ward off the knife.
Dr Bolster said the blade of a knife recovered from the scene measured 19.5cm in length, which was consistent with having caused the stab wound to the deceased.
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The witness said Dr Daghi's cause of death was haemorrhage and shock with bleeding into the pericardial sac after a single stab wound to the chest.
Under cross-examination, Dr Bolster agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that the deceased was of muscular build and it was obvious from an examination of his hands that he was a manual labourer.
Asked whether the deceased had a number of "fighting injuries" to his hands, Dr Bolster agreed, saying it "was in keeping with the offensive or defensive" injuries.
Dr Bolster also agreed that the blade of the knife was 19.5cm long, whereas the injury she noted was 13cm, which meant the knife had not "gone in the whole way".
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"The knife was not plunged to the hilt?" asked Mr Grehan, to which Dr Bolster said was the case.
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The witness also agreed that 13cm was only "an approximate measurement" and it didn't mean the blade "went 13cm, depending on the movement of the body".
She said she couldn't comment on the dynamics of how the blade "went in" in terms of the struggle taking place between the two men.
In his opening address, Carl Hanahoe SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said it was the State's case that the accused 'armed himself with a kitchen knife' and stabbed Mr Daghi once in the chest following an altercation after the pair had spent the night drinking together.
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice David Keane and a jury of eight men and four women.