Andrei Dobra pleads not guilty to murder by reason of insanity

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Andrei Dobra pleaded not guilty to murdering Ioana Mihaela Pacala at the Central Criminal Court on 1 July 2024, by reason of insanity.

The charge concerns Pacala’s death at their home in Ratoath, County Meath, on or about 12 November 2022. At trial, the prosecution said Dobra would admit strangling her, while the jury was to consider whether he was suffering from a mental disorder when he killed her.

Two psychiatrists were expected to give evidence that Dobra had a mental disorder at the time. The trial evidence reported on 5 July included both psychiatrists’ views that he qualified for a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity; no verdict is established in the available reports.