Prosecutors keep paramedic murder investigation in Panevezys

Lithuania’s Prosecutor General’s Office has rejected requests to move the investigation into paramedic Mantas Sadauskas’s murder to another prosecutor’s office, so the case will continue in Panevezys, LRT reported.

The office said a prosecutor from its Department for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Corruption found no grounds to question the thoroughness, detail or impartiality of the investigation, which is overseen by the Panevezys Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The decision followed a review of defence requests, the investigation’s progress and other relevant material.

Officers from the Panevezys County Chief Police Commissariat’s Organised Crime Investigation Board are conducting the investigation. Prosecutor Lukas Krivickas, of the Panevezys Regional Prosecutor’s Office, is leading it.

The defence lawyers for murder suspect Justina Sadauskiene had sought to have the investigation transferred from Panevezys. One of her lawyers, Vytautas Sirvydis, told ELTA that some of the arguments were also supported by the victim’s side.

The defence cited Sadauskiene’s past training at a Panevezys gym with Paulius Jasiukaitis, a deputy chief prosecutor at the Panevezys District Prosecutor’s Office. Jasiukaitis said he had trained at the same gym as Sadauskiene more than three years ago but had not been her coach.

Prosecutors have also accused Sadauskiene of organising the burning of the victim’s cars nearly two years ago. The investigation into those fires has been joined with the murder investigation and a separate inquiry into the destruction of high-value property by a generally dangerous method. Relatives of Sadauskas have criticised how authorities handled the arson investigation and said they believe his life might have been saved if the fires had been solved.

Sadauskiene and her friend V. Solkan are suspected of murder, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and illegal possession of a large quantity of narcotic or psychotropic substances. Sadauskiene’s detention has been extended until January 21, 2027.

Sadauskas’s body was found on April 21 on the grounds of a rural homestead in Panevezys District. Investigators suspect it had been wrapped in a trampoline and buried there. A firearm was found during an inspection of the scene.