Lithuanian car crash killer faced murder charge
A LITHUANIAN man who fled the UK after killing a veterinary nurse in a car crash had previously been accused of murder in his homeland, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Vytautas Kiminius was a teenager when he appeared in court charged with beating a homeless man to death in the small town of Taurage.
Records from 2001 suggest he was held by police for 10 days and faced trial, but it is understood that he was acquitted after a group of homeless people were too intoxicated to identify who attacked their friend.
Kiminius was also accused of criminal behaviour in the UK, alongside his wife Karolina Kiminiene.
In 2017, firefighters found 74 cannabis plants growing in the basement of a Lithuanian food shop owned by Ms Kiminiene, but she claimed to know nothing of the operation and said it must have been the work of criminal gangs operating after hours.
Sgt Kim Enderby, of Lincolnshire Police, said it was “inconceivable” that Mrs Kiminiene and her husband, who ran an adjoining beauty salon, did not know. While the venue lost its licence to sell alcohol, the result of the investigation is not clear.
In November 2018, Kiminius, 35, was at the wheel of a Range Rover Sport when he ploughed into a Ford Fiesta being driven by 46-year-old Rachel Radwell.
She died of her injuries foll owing the crash on the B1095 near Peterborough.
Kiminius admitted on the first day of his trial in February driving while uninsured and was found guilty of causing Miss Radwell’s death by dangerous driving. But despite being bailed to reappear for sentencing with c onditions i ncluding a surety, surrender of travel documents and electronic tagging, he fled the country with his wife and children.
Ray Bisby, t he acting police and crime commissioner for Cambridgeshire, said: “The current priority is to locate the man in question and I have been reassured that all agencies are working together to do this.”