Edmundas Dauksa armed himself with a kitchen knife, walked to the home of his former partner Ingrida Maciokaite and stabbed her nineteen times in front of their six-year-old daughter. A jury rejected his manslaughter case, convicted him of murder and the Court of Appeal later dismissed his challenge.
The murder of Ingrida Maciokaite
Dauksa, a Lithuanian national living and working in Dundalk, had been in a relationship with Maciokaite and they had a young daughter. On 18 September 2018, after conflict concerning the child’s custody, he took a knife and walked to Maciokaite’s home.
He stabbed her nineteen times: ten wounds to the front of her body and nine to the back. The wounds pierced her heart and lungs and she suffered defensive injuries. Their six-year-old daughter witnessed the killing. Dauksa remained nearby and later showed Gardaí where he had discarded the 15.5-centimetre knife.
Verdict, sentence and appeal
Dauksa offered to plead guilty to manslaughter, but not murder; the prosecution did not accept that plea. On 7 May 2021 a Central Criminal Court jury unanimously found him guilty of murder. On 27 May, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath imposed the mandatory life sentence, backdated to the date of the killing.
The Court of Appeal dismissed his challenge on 13 October 2023 in DPP v Dauksa [2023] IECA 321. The reported custody dispute and evidence of alcohol consumption do not excuse or reduce the jury’s verdict. This file does not publish the child’s identity.
The open record
No reliable public record located for this file establishes a prior criminal history, so none is claimed. Nor was a case-specific prisoner-transfer or immigration-removal process located. For a mandatory life prisoner, any future release is a parole question, not an automatic endpoint.
Chronology
- 18 September 2018: Ingrida Maciokaite murdered in Dundalk.
- 7 May 2021: Unanimous murder conviction.
- 27 May 2021: Mandatory life sentence, backdated to the killing.
- 13 October 2023: Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal.
- 25 July 2026: No published transfer or removal process located.
Cost benchmark
The statutory twelve-year parole-eligibility floor for newer life sentences, applied only as a capacity benchmark, represents €1,188,864 at the Irish Prison Service’s 2024 staffed-space average. Twenty years would represent €1,981,440.
Questions the State should answer
- Was any prisoner-transfer assessment undertaken?
- What long-term supports were offered to the child and family?
- What will be considered in any future parole-risk assessment?
- Would any future release trigger an immigration-status review?