Daniel Blanaru appeals conviction for murder of Larisa Serban

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

Daniel Blanaru has appealed his conviction for the murder of his partner Larisa Serban, according to a report published on 20 May 2025. He claimed that the jury was biased and alleged witness perjury.

Blanaru pleaded not guilty to murdering Serban at Rathmore, Athboy, Co Meath, on or about 12 August 2022. The proceedings were reported on 25 February 2025.

A Central Criminal Court jury convicted him on 1 April 2025 after a seven-week trial. The verdict was unanimous.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon imposed the mandatory life sentence, describing the crime as involving “needless and horrific violence”. She said the sentence could be backdated to when Blanaru went into custody.

The jury heard that Serban suffered two stab wounds and that her blood was found on Blanaru’s clothing. During Garda interviews, Blanaru initially said he had pushed and hit her during an argument. He later said she came at him with a knife and it went into her accidentally; in his final interview, he told detectives he was guilty and had killed her.

During the trial, Serban’s father, Ronet Serban, said Blanaru had told her parents he would one day kill her. Defence counsel put it to him that he may have heard about Blanaru beating his daughter but had not seen it. Ronet Serban said he had seen her “black in the face”, though she said she had fallen; he explained that he had not mentioned this in his Garda statement because the family was desperate and he had not remembered it.