Two men sentenced to 15 and 14 years for three murders

The Kurzeme Regional Court in Liepāja has sentenced two men to 15 years and nine months and 14 years and six months in prison for the murders of three people, LSM reported, citing information obtained from the court.

Edgars Judins was sentenced to 15 years and nine months in prison, followed by four years of probation supervision. Mārtiņš Stūre received a sentence of 14 years and six months, also followed by four years of probation supervision.

The sentences are less severe than those imposed when the case was first heard. The full judgment may be appealed within 10 working days of becoming available on August 14.

The men were charged with six criminal offenses in total, including three murders.

According to information provided by the prosecutor’s office, the first murder took place in June 2018. Stūre, Judins and another man had been preparing to carry out work at a rural property in the Rēzekne area. After an argument broke out while they were drinking alcohol, the two defendants took the other man to an uninhabited house in Ludza Municipality and killed him. Stūre and Judins then set fire to the house and the body left inside to conceal traces of the murder.

The men were also charged with a double murder committed in August 2018. They had been visiting acquaintances, a woman born in 1960 and a man born in 1953, at a rural house in the Irši Parish of Aizkraukle Municipality. After a conflict broke out with the homeowners while they were drinking alcohol, the two victims were killed. The house and both bodies were set on fire in this case as well.

The defendants were also tried for intentionally destroying and damaging another person’s property by fire, as well as for a minor theft. They stole two bicycles from the victims’ home in Irši Parish to leave the crime scene more quickly.

The Kurzeme Regional Court initially found both men guilty and sentenced them to 24 and 23 years in prison, along with four and three years of probation supervision. The Supreme Court partly annulled that judgment, finding that the description of the second offense did not establish that one of the defendants had a single intent to murder two people.