WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: Kornelijus Bracas, 27, murdered his sister Alesia Nazarova in her Co Armagh home and set fire outside his niece’s bedroom in a sickening attack
A 27-year-old man who brutally murdered his sister in her Co Armagh home before setting a fire outside his niece’s bedroom has been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 24 years.
Kornelijus Bracas from Tresna Park in Randalstown, Co Antrim, savagely stabbed his sister in the neck and set her alight while she was still alive in her Church Street residence in Portadown nearly three years ago.
Alesia Nazarova, 37 was declared dead at the scene, while his 12-year old niece was taken to hospital for treatment. Delivering the 24-year life tariff, Madam Justice McBride informed Bracas that this was the minimum duration he would have to serve before being eligible to apply for release back into society, reports Belfast Live.
As Bracas stood in the dock of Belfast Crown Court, flanked by two prison officers, Madam Justice McBride addressed him: “You are one of the most brutal, remorseless and cold-blooded murderers I have had to deal with.
“This is exemplified by the hard-hearted way you told police that you took a knife from the kitchen and slit your sister’s throat. Then you cleaned the knife and returned it to the kitchen. You have demonstrated gratuitous violence and a callous disregard for life.
“I sentence you to 24 years in prison. You must serve that time before you are considered for release. After that time it will fall to the Parole Commissioners to decide if you should be released on licence subject to conditions.”
During a plea and sentencing hearing last month, prosecution counsel Neil Connor KC informed the court that emergency services were summoned to the property in the early hours of Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
Bracas had ignited five separate fires in the house and when firefighters arrived at the scene, Ms Nazarova was discovered downstairs while his niece was rescued from a first-floor bedroom.
Paramedics also attended and whilst Ms Nazarova was pronounced dead shortly after their arrival, Mr Connor revealed that a subsequent post mortem showed that she was still alive when her brother set her on fire.
She suffered 60% burns and had also been stabbed between 14 and 15 times in the neck as well as sustaining four stab wounds to her abdomen.
The prosecutor stated that one of the wounds to her neck was “substantial” and would have required immediate medical attention to prevent loss of life.
The siblings are originally from Lithuania and Bracas had been living with his sister and niece prior to the murder after falling out with both parents and being taken in by Ms Nazarova. He was arrested later that day on a tow path near the Tesco car park in Portadown.
He was searched and found to be in possession of his sister’s bank card which he had used earlier to buy items in Tesco.
During questioning at Musgrave PSNI station, Bracas confessed to murdering his sister, setting multiple fires with the intent of burning down the property, and stealing a bank card. When probed by police about his motives, Bracas revealed that on the early morning of 21 March, he was preparing to leave his sister’s home when an argument ensued.
He admitted that after his sister shouted at him, he “snapped”. Bracas went on to describe how he grabbed her as she ascended the stairs, put her in a headlock, and strangled her until she stopped breathing.
He then retrieved a knife from the kitchen, which he used to slit her throat. Following this, he surrounded her body with rubbish, set it alight, and doused towels in heating oil.
Bracas also confessed to starting a fire outside his niece’s bedroom door. Furthermore, he claimed his sister treated him “like garbage”, didn’t appreciate him, and forced him to do household chores like babysitting his niece.
During today’s (Monday) sentencing hearing, Madam Justice McBride noted that these comments displayed Bracas’ “misogynistic attitude towards women. Far from treating him that way the deceased supported him and offered him a home whilst on bail.”
The senior judge further highlighted: “Domestic violence does not just involve intimate partners but wider family relations. It causes havoc in the family and is a scourge on society.”
The court was also presented with a victim impact statement from Ms Nazarova’s partner, who described their plans to wed in the future. In his statement, he confessed to thinking about Ms Nazarova “every day”, describing her as a “very cheerful person”.