Deivydas Zigelis murder trial continues at Central Criminal Court

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

Deivydas Zigelis remained on trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of Alexander Karpov, with Mr Justice Paul Butler presiding. He pleaded not guilty to murder and guilty to manslaughter. The proceedings were reported on 15 June 2016.

A single stab wound to Karpov’s heart caused his death at a house on Spa Street in Portarlington, Co Laois, on 15 February 2014, the court heard.

Rimas Sodaitis testified that, during a shouting argument, Zigelis took a knife from a small table and ran towards Karpov. Sodaitis said he kept watching television because arguments happened frequently in the house. He did not witness what followed.

Sodaitis described seeing Zigelis lower Karpov to the floor and leave the room. He initially believed Karpov had been punched. He said Zigelis returned, slapped Karpov’s face and called his name in an effort to wake him.

Sodaitis said he subsequently noticed blood. According to his account, Zigelis questioned its source, cleaned it away and said action was needed before making an emergency call.

Garda John Masterson testified that Sodaitis falsely claimed to have killed his friend when the garda arrived. Under questioning by the defence, Masterson accepted that distress over his friend’s death or extreme drunkenness could explain the false admission. The court also heard that intoxication left both Sodaitis and Zigelis unfit for interview for several hours.