A Dublin man who stabbed his partner to death and then placed a photograph of himself and their baby in her hands was convicted of murder at the Central Criminal Court today.
As the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict against 37-year-old Liam Wells, relatives of the deceased woman clapped and cheered and shouted "yes".
Wells, of Coultry Road Ballymun, stabbed 24-year-old Linda Dunne to death 16 or 17 times at a flat at Sillogue Road, Ballymun on 18th September 2001. He admitted two further charges of assaulting the deceased's mother, Mrs Kathleen Dunne and Mrs Dunne's partner, Joseph White, at Shangan Avenue Ballymun on the same date.
He now faces the mandatory life sentence for murder.
The accused had admitted stabbing Linda Dunne to death but said he had "flipped" and lost control after she ordered him to leave the flat. In evidence, he also claimed that she had threatened to prevent him from seeing their baby daughter.
Liam Wells had told the jury he was concerned about the child's safety. He claimed that Linda Dunne hit the baby and was "pawning her off" on friends while she went out. He said he did not want Kathleen Dunne to get custody.
The court heard that the accused and the deceased were both heroin addicts.
The jury had heard that after killing Linda Dunne in a frenzied attack, Liam Wells placed a framed photograph of himself and the baby in her hands. He then left the deceased lying on a blood-soaked couch and went to mother's house with a knife intending to kill her. He believed she was alone but was confronted in the hallway by Joseph White.
The jury heard evidence that Liam Wells slashed the pair with a large kitchen-type knife before he left.
The jury took just under two and a half hours to convict the accused of murder.
Mr Justice Paul Carney remanded the accused in custody until 11th April when he will impose the mandatory life sentence for murder and impose sentence on the two assault charges.