Sex attack killer, 16, snared by fingerprint captured on a video
A BOY of 16 who murdered a schoolgirl was trapped by a video that gave officers a clear view of his thumbprint.
The teenager was filmed by his brother as he tried to delete evidence from his mobile phone that linked him to the killing of Viktorija Sokolova, 14.
Although the video showed a hand rather than a face police were able to match the distinctive pattern of the left thumb to the boy’s fingerprint records.
The killer, who cannot be named, was convicted yesterday of murdering Viktorija after she refused to have sex with him. He raped her and struck her with a hammer at least 21 times after watching pornographic videos on his phone.
He fled the crime scene, leaving Viktorija’s partially clothed body on a bench. It was found by a dog walker the next day.
His victim suffered a fractured skull and spine and her teeth were knocked out.
The boy tried to cover his tracks by disposing of his clothes and trying to delete social media messages linking him to Viktorija. Jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court were told they had been friends, but drifted apart until he got in touch again days before the murder.
He sent her messages on Facebook, asking her to meet him in a park for a chat.
The pair went on to exchange selfies and he sent her a video of himself, bare- chested and lifting weights, hours before the murder on April 11. He was also trawling the internet for sex tips.
Jurors were told that Viktorija, who was born in Lithuania and moved to the UK in 2011, had a turbulent relationship with her family and had run away from home.
Her bloodstained clothes were found dumped in a park bin and her mobile phone and trainers were discovered by a boating lake. The boy was arrested two days after the murder. In a recording on his brother’s phone, his hand could be seen scrolling through his iPhone for passwords as he prepared to delete evidence linking him to the victim.
Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, said: ‘The images are of such good quality and definition, the ridge detail of the left thumb holding the phone could be compared to the fingerprint of the defendant, and they were found to match.’
The killer was also caught on CCTV carrying a rucksack believed to be holding his bloodstained clothes and shoes. Neither they nor the murder weapon has been recovered.
The boy’s defence team tried to point the finger of blame at Viktorija’s mother and stepfather, Karolina Valantiniene and Saidas Valantinas. Mr Valantinas said: ‘The defence lawyer said in a direct way that I had raped her and I killed her.’ Jurors were told that traces of his DNA were found on Viktorija’s underwear – but police said the these were ‘microscopic’ and could have resulted from contact in a laundry basket.
Mrs Valantiniene, 36, who works in a factory, said: ‘We never thought that such a day would come to our lives. We were a family, now there are only two of us.’
Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield of West Midlands Police said: ‘The murder of Viktorija shocked the local community and the wider general public, not least because of the ages of those involved.’
The boy was remanded in custody to be sentenced at a later date. c.duffin@dailymail.co.uk
‘Shocked the community’