A man has been ordered to stand trial accused of his sister’s murder and trying to kill a young girl.
Appearing in the dock of Craigavon Magistrates Court on Friday, 26-year-old Kornelijus Bracas confirmed he was aware of the four charges against him and that he was not objecting to his case being elevated to the crown court.
Bracas is charged with the murder of Alesia Nazarova, attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl on 21 March last year as well as arson with intent to endanger life and theft of Ms Nazarova’s bank card on the same date.
Emergency services were called to the scene of a house fire in Church Street in Portadown, Co Armagh, on March 21 and the body of 37-year-old mother-of-one Ms Nazarova was found dead inside the house.
The brother and sister had been living together in the property after she had recently moved to Northern Ireland from Eastern Europe.
Although none of the allegations surrounding the death and fire were opened in court on Friday, a prosecuting lawyer submitted there was a prima facie case against the alleged killer which was conceded by defence counsel Barry McKenna.
Standing in the dock flanked by prison officers, Bracas declined to exercise his rights to comment on the charges or to call evidence on his own behalf.
Remanding Bracas back into custody, District Judge Francis Rafferty returned the case to Craigavon Crown Court for trial but did not set a date for the arraignment.