The Death of Ricardis Loveick – A dead man was found six years ago in the confines of his own house in Buncrana. A day before, he was involved in a car accident, as a result of which his injuries were not treated, and he also suffered cardiac arrest due to excessive consumption of alcohol.
The body of Ricardis Loveikis, a single father, was found at his residence in Oakfield Close just after six o’clock on Sunday, March 18, 2018. He was found unconscious with unexplained injuries on his body.
It wasn’t long before the native of Inishowen, Lithuania, who was 47 and had worked for E&I Engineering, Burnfoot, for more than a decade, was pronounced dead.
At the conclusion of the inquest, held at Buncrana Crown Court, Coroner Dr Denis McCauley ruled that Mr Loveikis’ death was the result of an industrial accident. No evidence of misconduct was found.
After conducting a post-mortem examination, Deputy State Pathologist Dr. Linda Mulligan concluded that the deceased’s injuries, which included a severely broken arm and a dislocated shoulder, did not appear to be the result of an assault. In addition, it was found that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of his death.
Gardai conducted an investigation into the incident and concluded that there was no criminal involvement in the murder.
Following an investigation, they came to the conclusion that Mr Loveikis was believed to have been involved in a minor road traffic collision on the evening of 17th March 2018 on Slab Road, Burnfoot. However, he did not seek medical attention for his wounds, and about eighteen hours later, after a long drink of alcohol, he died at home of sudden heart failure. He was drinking heavily.
Coroner McCauley described the situation as “chaotic and confusing” but officers handled it professionally and conducted an investigation into the matter. He is sure that there was no suspicious death.
According to Dr McCauley, “the circumstances of this gentleman’s death have confused and, as a result, alarmed members of the Garda”.
However, security officials do not believe this was a criminal act and the injury did not indicate that it was an assault.
“The cardiac arrhythmia which ultimately caused death was found to be caused by acute trauma and alcohol intoxication, in addition to the alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy that existed prior to death,” the court said.
On Sunday 18 March 2018, Sergeant Graeme Morgan was driving a Buncrana patrol car with Garda Eoghan Reid when the emergency call came in. Sergeant Morgan described how he was driving when the call came in.
At 6.20pm we received a call that a man had collapsed at his residence at 41 Oakfield Close, Buncrana and was having a heart attack.
They arrived at the place ten minutes later and a man was standing behind the door. Just inside, in a small utility room, was another man who appeared to be attempting CPR on a man suffering a heart attack.
“The man was found lying on the floor of the utility room, showing no signs of consciousness. It was a woman talking to another man through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) coming from a cell phone that was loud enough to be heard over the speakers.
“The man who was doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) started to faint, so I took over the CPR,” Sgt Morgan explained.
Although it was difficult to check on the man in the extremely cramped utility room, I continued to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him.
Fire and emergency crews arrived at the scene in a relatively short time. The man’s vital signs were taken after he was brought into the kitchen. They said that the man had been dead for some time, that his body was cold, and that hardness had entered his body.
Sergeant Morgan testified that he then began to get information about the people who were at the scene and he also identified the deceased person as Ricardis Loveikis using a driver’s license found at the home.
In addition, the other two men who were in the residence were of Eastern European descent and lived in the neighborhood.
“The person performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) reported that he last saw Ricardis Loveikis on March 17 between 6 and 7 p.m., and that he arrived at his home that evening (March 18) at approximately 6 p.m. : 15 hours.”
Twenty-five years had passed since she had known the dead man. Upon arriving at the residence, he opened the side door to find her lying on her side on the utility room floor. He immediately called an ambulance.
According to testimony presented at the inquest, Mr Loveikis was found lying on the ground wearing a beige jacket, black work trousers, black shoes and a black T-shirt with the E&I Engineering logo.
At seven minutes after ten o’clock, Superintendent Kelly called and Buncrana priest Fr. John Walsh was also called to the scene. He arrived at the scene a few minutes later.
Sergeant Morgan said he noted the obvious marks on Mr Loveikis’ body. There were several small cuts on his face and hands, a small scratch on his left cheek, a bruise on his chin and a scratch on his nose. He also had several small cuts on his nose. He not only has a mark on his visible thigh, but also on his left thigh.
He made the following statement: “I did an inspection; The house was clean and there were no signs of a fight in the house. “
I was informed by friends at the scene that Mr Loveikis worked for E&I Engineering in Burnfoot and was a heavy drinker, particularly vodka.
He was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m
During the inquest, Garda Eoghan Reed, who was stationed at Buncrana Garda Station, told the jury he also remembered “a number of marks” on the body. He also noted that the next morning, when he saw Dr Linda Mulligan, the deputy state pathologist, at University Hospital Letterkenny, he recognized Ricardis Loveikis.
A summary of the results of the post-mortem examination carried out on Dr Mulligan was presented to the inquiry by Dr Catriona Dillon.
It was his claim that his body was covered with a series of bruises and scratches. The injuries included a fractured deformity of the left shoulder, red areas on the skin of both knees, and an injury to the left side of the chest accompanied by a large area of purple bruising.
Corresponding to injuries related to resuscitation, chest and rib fractures were noted. On the other hand, there were also other fractured ribs with significant soft-tissue hemorrhage that were unrelated to resuscitation.
He claims that there was a complete fracture of the upper arm, resulting in a downward movement of the shoulder joint. This was associated with widespread soft tissue bleeding in the arm and left chest area that resulted.
In addition, Dr Mulligan found that Mr Loveikis had an enlarged heart and was extremely intoxicated at the time of his death, with a blood alcohol level of 263 microgrammes per decilitre. This is four times the legal limit for alcohol consumption.
The decedent had signs of a significant fracture-dislocation of the shoulder, severe blunt force trauma to the left side of the chest and left upper arm, and a fractured left rib that may have restricted breathing prior to death. The deceased had all these injuries.
These injuries also caused significant bleeding in the soft tissues of the left chest, left upper arm, and left shoulder joint. Significant bleeding was also noted in the left shoulder joint. According to the testimony presented at the inquest, these factors put an additional burden on his heart, which was already vulnerable.
He concluded that any of these wounds could have been caused by a serious fall or a car accident. There was no way they could have been injured in the attack.
An inquest heard none of the injuries were serious enough to cause death and it is possible the deaths could have been avoided if medical attention had been sought earlier that day.
The presence of red spots on both knees suggests that hypothermia may not be completely ruled out as a possible cause of death, as Dr. Mulligan said. The deceased may have been asleep for a long time before death.
As a result of heavy alcohol consumption, which most likely affected the blood’s ability to coagulate, he may experience more severe bleeding than a normal healthy person under similar conditions.
According to Coroner McCall, Mr Loveick was at risk not only because of his alcohol intoxication and severe injuries, both of which put significant additional stress on his body, but also because of his enlarged heart.
There was a possibility that his enlarged heart could go into arrhythmia at any moment, resulting in his death.
His body was under stress from the severe trauma, and the fact that he had consumed large amounts of alcohol at the time of his death made his heart more susceptible to arrhythmia.
After presenting medical evidence, Coroner McCauley requested that Sergeant Morgan provide further information in relation to a road traffic collision which had occurred on Slab Road the night before the death.
Although no one was at the scene when gardaí arrived at the Slab Road, Burnfoot location, they were able to identify Mr Loveikis as the owner of the damaged van.
In addition, Sergeant Morgan stated that the person who found Mr Loveikis was the registered owner of the vehicle in question.
After the collision, we began an investigation to determine whether Mr. Loveikis was in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Security guards collected evidence in the form of CCTV footage, witness statements, DNA analysis and footprint analysis; However, all conclusions were considered inaccurate.
Sgt Morgan’s statement read: “We always assumed he was there, but we never confirmed that he was in the car at the time of the collision.”
The inquest heard that neither the driver nor passenger doors of the van were open after the collision and Mr Loveikis is believed to have fallen on his shoulder as he tried to get out of the vehicle.
Looking down, the trench was quite far away. The only solution would be to climb out of the driver’s or one of the passenger’s windows. Maybe he fell out of the van, we think. The night was extremely cool and the impact was not particularly strong in terms of its speed.
A statement issued by Sergeant Morgan said it was “more than likely” that Mr Loveikis’ injuries were the result of an accident (or fall) that occurred the night before he died. He also noted that gardaí have ruled out any form of assault or foul play.
