On Saturday, January 6, State Police received a call to Rēzekne, Akmeņu Street, where the body of a man born in 1958 was found in an apartment, while two men born in 1969 had been injured.
One of the two injured men died at a medical facility later.
On the same day, in carrying out operational and investigative measures, the police apprehended three minors, one in born 2009 and two born in 2008, on suspicion of murder in particularly aggravated circumstances.
On Monday January 8, the court imposed detention as a security measure on two of the young people.
Oskars Točelovskis, head of the North Latgale Precinct of the State Police Latgale Region Administration, said that both beaten wounds and stab wounds were detected for the victim whose life could not be saved, however, the exact cause of death should be clarified in an expert-examination.
The suspects are local residents and have been known to the victims, who are also locals. Both the suspects and victims have come to the police's attention for petty offenses.
Police are not ruling out that the killings may be linked to alcohol consumption and conflict with one another, Točelovskis noted.
A neighbor of the man killed told Latvian Radio that scandals and alcohol consumption in the house were common, and police had been called repeatedly before. Two more days before his death, on January 4, the victim had asked a neighbor to call police and paramedics because he had been struck, and his head was bleeding.
Criminal proceedings have been initiated regarding what happened after Section 118, Paragraph Two of the Criminal Law regarding murder if two or more persons have been murdered.
Adults face life imprisonment or imprisonment for between 15 and 20 years for such a crime, while minors face a lesser sentence.
Under the Criminal Law, juveniles must not have a term of imprisonment of more than ten years for particularly serious crimes. Deprivation of liberty for a minor shall always be applied together with an additional punishment – probation supervision.
