Murder of daughters on Hrachovej Street: new evidence and shocking child sexual abuse allegations
Ivana stands before the Specialised Criminal Court accused of murdering her daughters Melánia and Bela. The defence is submitting new evidence from a notebook and USB key, and the case is becoming increasingly serious.
Trial in Hrachovej Street murder case: new evidence changes picture of case
Ivana again appeared before the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, where she faces charges of murdering her two small daughters – five-year-old Melánia and two-year-old Bela. According to Nový Čas, the case has taken an unexpected turn thanks to new materials that the defence plans to present to the court.
Witness testimony and sensitive revelations
At the May hearing, two witnesses testified – the accused Ivana's mother and her friend Marcela. Both spoke about the family and relationship background to the tragedy. In the concluding parts of their testimony, extremely sensitive allegations emerged.
One of the witnesses recalled before the court a sentence she claimed to have heard directly from Ivana: "Michal strokes the daughter." What exactly the accused meant by this, the witness was unable to explain in more detail.
Ivana's mother testified that shortly before the fateful day she received a package from her daughter containing a laptop and USB key. According to her, Ivana did not want these devices to fall into the hands of her husband Michal. After the tragedy, she therefore handed them over to police. The defence wants to present the contents of the notebook and USB key as new evidence – however, the prosecution suggested that the court should not accept them. According to the defence, experts in information technology found nothing relevant to the case in the devices. The court has not yet ruled on the proposal.
Accused refuses psychological report
At the beginning of the hearing, the court read Ivana's written statement on the expert reports. She had no fundamental objections to the conclusions of the fire brigade experts. However, she objected strongly to the psychological report by expert Elena Fortis.
"I have never behaved as an aggressive person. I have never been cold, ruthless, hostile and focused only on my own needs," Ivana stated. She also objected to the fact that her report attributes further negative qualities to her, including alleged paranoia.
The accused also described her mental state at the time of the alleged crime. She claims she was in an extremely poor mental condition and considered ending her own life.
Detail on hand and reports of farewell letter
A Nový Čas photographer noticed a disturbing detail at the hearing: written on the right hand of accused Ivana was the text "Love and let go". Given the seriousness of the allegations, this sentence appears extremely distressing according to the editorial staff.
According to information from an editorial source, Ivana allegedly has suicidal tendencies. These claims have not yet been publicly confirmed. The editorial staff also received a tip from a reader, according to whom a farewell letter from the accused was allegedly found in her cell.
Horrific August morning on Hrachovej Street
Residents of Hrachovej Street in Bratislava will not forget the horrific morning from a year ago. Dense black smoke suddenly began pouring from one of the flats. After arriving on the third floor, firefighters broke down the door and found two motionless little bodies in the bathtub in the bathroom – the sisters were lying face down.
Despite the immediate intervention of rescue workers, both girls did not survive. According to witnesses, father Michal was in complete shock and unable to communicate. Mother Ivana, aged 33, on the other hand appeared to be cold – during the firefighting operation she was sitting in a nearby café according to available information. Shortly afterwards she suffered a mental breakdown and confessed to the deed in an ambulance.
Ivana faces charges of particularly serious murder. If found guilty, she faces life imprisonment.
Shocking email with allegations of child sexual abuse
An email written by Ivana herself was presented at the hearing. In several paragraphs she described her life with her husband Michal – from their meeting, through the birth of their daughters, to serious allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour towards their eldest daughter Melánia.
In the email, Ivana accused her husband of child sexual abuse. According to her, Melánia began to fear her father and refused to spend time with him. "Melánia did not want to go out with her father, did not want him to dress her, and did not want to bathe with him. She was afraid of him," Ivana described.
When she asked her husband what had happened, he allegedly told her that he had shouted at the daughter and hit her. "I told him that enough was enough," Ivana stated. Ivana further wrote that her husband massaged Melánia's back and buttocks when she was naked, and that she urged him to stop doing so. He allegedly repeated this later.
According to her own account, she subsequently asked her husband for his mobile phone because she wanted to look at photographs from their joint outing. Instead, she allegedly discovered a photograph that shocked her. The content of the photograph and the further course of her statement from the email were not specified in more detail in available sources.
The case continues before the Specialised Criminal Court. The court has not yet ruled on the acceptance of the new evidence proposed by the defence.
Source: Nový Čas