Both defendants were also placed under probation supervision for two years, LETA was informed by the prosecutor's office.
The two defendants – neither or whom has been officially named – and one other unidentified person were accused of carrying out the hit in broad daylight at a grill bar in Rīga as Valagins exited the restaurant and made for his car. The whole thing was captured on CCTV and widely circulated online at the time.
When Valagins left the grill bar and got into his car, one of the defendants – the driver of a Chrysler car – drove up to the back of Valagins' car, blocking the exit. Then the unidentified person who was in the Chrysler car fired at least seven shots at Valagins' car with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
The second defendant, who was in the Chrysler, ran up to Valagins' car and fired at least three shots through the front passenger door glass with a modified Makarov pistol. As a result of the shots, Valagins fell out of the car, after which the other defendant ran up to him and shot him in the head.
After that, the defendants, together with the two unidentified persons, went to a forest in Ropaži district, where they burned the Chrysler used in the murder.
One of the defendants was detained by the Ropaži municipal police on March 11, the day of the murder, and the other defendant was detained by the State Police on August 29, 2022.
Both men were charged with murder in an organized group and carrying and transporting firearms and ammunition without a permit in an organized group. Both defendants have previously been tried for committing various crimes both in Lithuania and in other European Union countries. The verdict can be appealed.
