Court extends former wife’s detention in paramedic murder case

A Panevezys District Court has extended by one month the detention of Justina Sadauskiene, the former wife suspected of murdering paramedic Mantas Sadauskas, LRT reported on Wednesday.

The court fully granted the prosecutor’s request during a closed hearing held remotely. Sadauskiene’s detention was extended on all three grounds provided for by law: the risk that she could obstruct the proceedings, flee or hide from investigators, the prosecutor or the court, and commit new crimes, court spokeswoman Irma Griteniene said.

The suspect was detained in April. In one month, she will have been held for six months, after which further decisions on her detention must be made by a regional court rather than a district court.

Her lawyer, Vaidotas Sviderskis, said the prosecutor had requested a shorter extension because a district court can authorise detention for no more than six months. He continues to oppose the prosecutor’s request and has agreed to other preventive measures, including bail, electronic monitoring or regular reporting to police.

Sviderskis said the allegations against his client had been adjusted slightly, but that she continued to deny guilt. She has previously been charged with intentional murder and unlawful deprivation of liberty.

Sadauskiene’s father, Birzai doctor Egidijus Gaigalas, was also detained earlier in the case. He was released on August 6 after being ordered to pay 10,000 euros in bail and sign a written undertaking not to leave. He faces allegations related to illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, explosives or explosive substances, as well as illegal possession of narcotic or psychotropic substances with the intent to distribute them or possession of a very large quantity of such substances.

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

Sadauskas’s father previously told journalists that his son had received an order to deliver a trampoline to a children’s party at a kindergarten. After Sadauskas went missing, the account of the person who had ordered the trampoline was found to have been deleted. The local elder of the area where the trampoline was supposedly ordered also told journalists that there was no kindergarten there.

According to investigators, the suspected motive may be linked to personal disagreements. The former couple’s young children are now living with Sadauskas’s parents, while their mother, who is being held in detention, cannot see them.