A 27-year-old Dublin man has been convicted tonight of the murder of a Chinese student in 2005.
The jury of six men and five women took a little over two-and-a-half hours found Derek Wade of Church Avenue, Rialto, guilty of stabbing Zhi Song (23) with a chef's carving knife.
The stabbing took place at the house Mr Zhi was living in Reuben Avenue, South Circular Road, in the early hours of June 29th 2005, the Central Criminal Court heard.
Wade was also found guilty of attempting to rob Xiau Wen Zhou of her purse on the same occasion. Wade had denied both charges.
The jury heard that on the night of the murder Mr Song had held a barbeque for some friends with his new girlfriend Xiau Wen Zhou.
The two had been sharing the house on Reuben Avenue for nine months but had only recently started going out. Their guests left at around 9pm and the pair watched a film together before going to bed in their separate rooms.
Ms Xiau, also known as Tracy, fell asleep quickly but woke up when she heard someone open the door of her room.
She realised he was holding two blades, one "square" and one "long". She thought she recognised the knives from the kitchen downstairs.
She initially spoke to him in her native language but when she realised the man was Irish she spoke to him in English. He said: "Shut up! I don't want to hurt you. Give me your purse."
She told him to leave the room so that she could get dressed and he reluctantly moved towards the door. Mr Zhi came out of his bedroom and the man ran out. She stayed sitting on the bed, afraid to move.
A couple of seconds later she said she heard the noise "like someone pushing or lifting something" then Mr Zhi staggered into her room.
Ms Xiau told the court she put her hand on her friend's chest but could not stop the bleeding. Her housemates called the emergency services but Mr Zhi was dead on arrival at St James's Hospital. Several days later she was asked to attend an identity parade. She picked out Wade.