A 39-year-old man who stabbed his wife the day after she told him she wanted to continue with divorce proceedings, has been handed a life sentence for her murder.
Renato Gehlen who is originally from Brazil, had claimed that she stabbed herself at their home just off Gardiner Street in Dublin city.
French woman Anne Colomines met Renato Gehlen while working at PayPal in Dublin.
They got married in 2012 but their relationship got into difficulty, and by the summer of 2017, Anne had met someone else and wanted a divorce.
On the night of October 25th 2017, a day after she told him she was taking steps to end the marriage, Renato stabbed her four times.
The jury heard she had a large wound across her throat and the blade had also pierced her heart. Renato claimed she turned the knife on herself but the jury rejected his defence.
Through her victim impact statement, Anne’s mother, Danielle, told the court today how much she missed her daughter, whom she described as “intelligent, beautiful and generous.”
She begged her for forgiveness for not protecting her and said she’d have to live with the agony and pain forever.
Renato Gehlen was then handed a mandatory life sentence for murdering his wife.
