A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of his wife at their home in west Dublin.
David Bourke (48), a father of three, has been charged with the murder of Jean Gilbert (46) at the family home in Laverna Dale, Carpenterstown, Dublin at 10.40am on Tuesday.
The accused was arrested at the house after gardaí responded to a 999 call from Mr Bourke on the morning of the killing. When the emergency services arrived Ms Gilbert was found to have sustained stab wounds but was still alive.
She was taken to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, where she underwent emergency surgery. However, her condition deteriorated during the afternoon and she was pronounced dead at 3.29pm.
Mr Bourke was arrested on suspicion of assault when gardaí arrived at the scene in Carpenterstown on Tuesday morning. He was taken to Blanchardstown Garda station for questioning.
When Ms Gilbert died the Garda investigation was upgraded to a murder inquiry and Mr Bourke was rearrested on suspicion of murder at 4.55pm.
He was questioned under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allowed for his detention without charge for 24 hours.
When that period expired on Wednesday evening the murder charge was put to him at Blanchardstown Garda station, where he was detained overnight ahead of his court appearance at Dublin District Court yesterday morning.
Det Sgt Liam Kelly gave evidence relating to Mr Bourke's arrest and detention. He told Judge Derek McVeigh that when the murder charge was put to the accused Mr Bourke had "nothing to say".
The court was told that Mr Bourke, who is originally from Mullingar in Co Westmeath, was in employment earning €600 per week.
He made an application for legal aid through his solicitor Eugene Dunne.
He was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison, Dublin, and will appear before the court again next Thursday, September 6th.
The couple married in 1995 and have two boys and a girl aged 10, seven and four years. The children were at the family home when their mother, who was originally from Terenure in south Dublin, was killed.
Mr Bourke wore brown casual trousers, a brown striped shirt and orange tie during the brief court appearance.
He did not speak during the hearing.
