Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Trial told man had ‘puncture marks’
A MURDER trial jury has been told of the injuries allegedly sustained by a man found dead in a Dundee block of flats.
Aigars Upieneks, 34, was discovered in a “pool of blood” on a landing in Thurso Crescent in the early hours of December 23 2015, the High Court in Aberdeen heard.
Fellow Latvian Aldis Minakovskis, 24, denies repeatedly stabbing him to death at the property.
The jury was told by a paramedic that Mr Upieneks, who travelled to Dundee with Minakovskis i n May 2015, suffered four puncture wounds to his back.
Paramedic John McKiddie, 52, said he and colleagues spent more than 45 minutes trying to revive Mr Upieneks after being called to Thurso Crescent on the date in question, but to no avail. He said: “We arrived at 3.57am and I saw a casualty lying face down. “There was blood coming out of his mouth, it was quite frothy. “That usually i ndicates blocked airwaves or lung problems. “I saw no visible wounds at first, it was only when the other crew managed to get some of his clothes off that I saw the puncture marks on his back. “There was one on his shoulder and three on his back. “We spent the best part of 47 minutes trying to reverse the situation but there were no vital signs.”
Mr McKiddie also recalled seeing a knife in the corner of the landing where Mr Upieneks was lying.
Asked by judge Lord Uist if the knife was in the alleged victim’s hand, Mr McKiddie said: “No.”
The jury also heard evidence from police Sergeant Steven Brown, 45.
He described seeing Mr Upieneks in a “pool of blood” when he attended the scene.
He too claimed to have seen a blade on the landing, along with a black handle at the base of another set of stairs.
Mr Brown said: “When I attended paramedics were carrying out CPR.
“I saw a large pool of blood where the casualty was and a blade was lying near the stairs where he was.
“A black handle was lying about 15 to 20 feet away at the base of the other stairs.”
The trial continues.