The girlfriend of a man whose body was found in a suitcase in the Royal Canal last summer, a case which mystified gardaí for weeks, hired three Russians merely "to teach him a lesson".
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard that Marina Sourovtzeva, a Russian national, was the victim of countless beatings at the hands of her violent Romanian boyfriend, Adrian Bestea (21), but could not report him to gardaí because she was an asylum-seeker.
She sought help from friends, who introduced her to three men who said they would evict him from her flat for a fee.
Sourovtzeva took the men to her flat on Strand Road in Sandymount, Dublin, where the men beat Mr Bestea for 4½ hours before one of them hit him on the the head with a wheel brace. This was the blow which killed him.
The following day his body was crammed into a suitcase, and Sourovtzeva and two of the men carried it on the No 3 bus to Drumcondra, where they dumped it off Binn's Bridge into the Royal Canal.
Children playing on the banks of the canal found the suitcase 10 days after Mr Bestea's death and the public's assistance was sought by gardaí to identify the body.
Sourovtzeva (31), a mother of one, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm to Mr Bestea at her flat on July 8th, 2001.
Judge Yvonne Murphy said there was no one in court qualified to determine the psychological element of the case and ordered a psychological report for July 19th.
She remanded Sourovtzeva into custody for sentence on that date.
Det Sgt Walter O'Sullivan told Mr Des Zaidan, prosecuting, that Sourovtzeva and Mr Bestea met at a hostel in Charlemont Street in 1999 and fell in love. She had come to Ireland to study English, and he had come to work.
After a short while, they both moved to adjoining flats on Strand Road, but their relationship soon deteriorated and Mr Bestea regularly beat her over a two-year period.
She fled from the house on July 8th, 2001, after being badly assaulted by Mr Bestea, and met two female Russian friends in a bar in South King Street.
Det Sgt O'Sullivan described her as being "hurt, humiliated, embarrassed and upset".
The women said they knew some men who could offer protection but said she would have to pay for it.
She met the three Russian men in O'Connell Street, and told them she just wanted Mr Bestea evicted, but knew he would be assaulted.
Sourovtzeva let them into the flat, and they assaulted Mr Bestea on a bed for 15 minutes before they put him sitting in an armchair. Det Sgt O'Sullivan said they hit him continuously over the head from 8.15 p.m. that evening until 12.45 a.m, while taking occasional breaks from the beatings and drinking vodka and wine throughout. The men even gave some to Mr Bestea.
They said they wanted to kill him, but Sourovtzeva said No and tried to get a taxi for her boyfriend to take him to his friend's flat.
Det Sgt O'Sullivan said Sourovtzeva had lost control of the situation by this time.
She was sent out to buy cigarettes and when she returned one man was holding a wheel brace in his hand while Mr Bestea lay dead. The doors, floor and walls were covered with blood.
The following day Sourovtzeva bought a suitcase, and Mr Bestea's body was put inside. She and two of the men took the bus to Drumcondra, and disposed of the body. It was not discovered until July 20th, when gardaí had to release a picture of the dead man and items of clothing to the newspapers to identify him.
Sourovtzeva fled to London after the body was found and was tracked down to a flat in Kensington in September 2001. She volunteered to come home and made 15 statements to gardaí outlining her involvement in great detail.
Det Sgt O'Sullivan said the man who delivered the fatal blow had fled the jurisdiction and three days after Mr Bestea was killed he crossed into an east European country.
Mr Paul McDermot SC, for Sourovtzeva, said it was never his client's intention to have Mr Bestea killed but just to teach him a lesson. She committed the offence in a state of absolute fear and fled the country in the same condition.
She was afraid she would be killed herself by the Russians after the body was found, a fear, according to Det Sgt O'Sullivan, which was well founded after what they did to Mr Bestea.
She never meant for any of it to happen and felt genuine remorse for her actions.