Police say they've solved two murder cases from the early 2000s

Take note – story published 5 years ago

The State Police on February 26 announced they've solved two murder cases from 2000 and 2003. Both of the crimes – which are not related – involved a man who had gone missing. Evidence about them was only discovered in 2017. 

Their remains have been found and the suspects have been identified. While investigation is ongoing, the police are confident in saying that the cases are, for all practical purposes, solved.

In April 2017 a car was uncovered underground with the remains of a dead man in Aizpute, western Latvia. LETA earlier reported that police had identified the person as one Aigars Zikmanis, a notorious local businessman who disappeared in 2000.

The car had been buried under a barn of his friend's property. The barn had caught fire not long after Zikmanis disappeared but back then no-one had known that this was related to the case and the car was only uncovered when the property changed hands and the new landowner started digging works in the area.

Unofficial information back then suggested that Zikmanis had been killed with a bullet to his head. The police now think that a 1964-born man committed the murder. The investigation is yet to be sent to prosecution but the police say investigative work has all but been concluded.

Also in 2017, the police learned about a possible murder committed in 2003 in Tukums, central Latvia. After the tip, the remains of a man were uncovered beneath the concrete floor of a basement. The police learned that it was a 1951-born Tukums local who had been missing since May 2003. 

Even though more than 14 years had passed since he disappeared, the State Police said it has practically solved the crime, with three people – a 1967-born man, a 1968-born man and a 1954-born woman – named suspects in the case.

The case is also yet to be sent to the prosecutor. 

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