KAUNAS, Lithuania — A manhunt is underway for Drąsius Kedys, whom police believe could be responsible for the murder of a judge and woman Monday in Kaunas.
Police checkpoints have been set up at every road leading out of the city, while helicopters are shining spotlights searching for the alleged murderer and his possible accomplices. No arrests have been made so far.
Kedys, 37 years old of Kaunas, is implicated by police in the murder of District Court Judge Jonas Furmanavičius and Violeta Naruševičienė, the sister of his former live-in girlfriend, which both took place Monday morning. Possible motives could be the belief that his four-year-old daughter was sexually abused by Furmanavičius and other men, or frustration with a bitter three-year-long custody battle with Kedys’ ex-girlfriend Laima Stankūnaitė, the mother of Kedys’ daughter.
First murder
District Court Judge Jonas Furmanavičius was killed by gunfire in the street in Kaunas at 8.30 a.m. today as he got out of his car. He was 47 years old.
Three shots were fired from a pistol into the judge’s abdomen and then one in his head. They reported seeing Furmanavičius trying to back his black Mercedes-Benz car onto V. Sladkevičius Street where he saw what looked like a traffic accident. When he exited the vehicle for better look, he was shot dead. Some witnesses told police they thought the killing seemed planed and that more than one perpetrator was involved — whether multiple assailants were involved remains under investigation.
After police arrived, a crime scene was immediately declared and the the area cordoned off. Witnesses say the judge’s body lay on the street for over an hour and a half.
It’s alleged the perpetrator or perpetrators drove a white Volkswagen Transporter van with the insignia and web address of the Kauno Keliai road construction company written on it. Police located the van in Kaunas this afternoon and discovered it did not belong to Kauno Keliai and that the insignia was only a decoy sticker.
The Ministry of Justice expressed condolences for Furmanavičius’ family. Furmanavičius was unmarried.
“The minister of justice has expressed his condolence to the relatives of the crime victim. This is the first case in Lithuania during the independence when a judge is killed. We hope that the police and prosecutors will carry out an extensive investigation and analyze all implications to establish the guilty which will be punished,” Vaida Vincevičiūtė, adviser to the minister of justice, told Baltic Reports.
Today the deceased judge was supposed to preside over three cases. One for the theft after breaking and entering, one for medical fraud and one for a traffic violation. In the past Furmanavičius had presided over cases involving the notorious Daktarai (The Doctors) criminal gang.
Furmanavičius’ career was not spotless — he was arrested for drunk driving in 2006 with .257 percent blood alcohol content, but managed to keep his gavel.
Second murder
The body of Violeta Naruševičienė, 29 years old of Kaunas, was found at 12:30 by her family. Police say she was shot to death between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. A Beretta pistol registered under Kedys’ name was found near her body.
Naruševičienė is the sister of Stankūnaitė, and was recently contacted by the Vilnius Prosecutor’s Office about Kedys’ treatment of his daughter.
Website accuser named as suspect
On his website www.pedofilai.com Kedys accused Furmanavičius of joining other men in molesting and raping his daughter. Kedys contacted authorities almost one year ago, alleging that his daughter was sexually assaulted. However, prosecutors found Kedys uncooperative with their investigations and the case stalled without any charges being pressed, even after the girl had been interviewed by psychologists three times. After shifting from the Kaunas Prosecutor’s Office to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the alleged pedophilia case is now under investigation by the Vilnius Prosecutor’s Office.
This screenshot is from one of the videos on www.pedofilai.com. In it Kedys interviews his daughter, seen here with her face blacked out, asking her to describe the alleged rape and molestation she underwent in explicit detail. The interview was conducted in Lithuanian but Kedys inserted English subtitles.
Kedys said prosecutors were not taking sufficient interest in his case and took to the internet to publicize it, eventually accusing three men — Furmanavičius, Andrius Ūsas, director of the Eurotechnika manufacturing company in Kaunas, and another man only named as Aidas — of participating in pedophiliac orgies with his daughter. The website features videos Kedys filmed that contain interviews he conducted with his daughter about the rape and molestation. In them his daughter graphically describes the incidents of abuse. The videos are in Lithuanian but include English subtitles. On his site Kedys accuses Stankūnaitė of prostituting the girl to Furmanavičius, Ūsas and Aidas, claiming the men were paying Stankūnaitė in exchange for sex with her daughter.
Ūsas denies the charges, as did Furmanavičius. According to a Lietuvos Rytas report, well before Kedys made the accusation against him, then-Seimas member aide Ūsas was contacted by Stankūnaitė in 2006 upon the recommendation of a Kaunas child welfare agency manager about helping her regain custody of her daughter from Kedys after he had taken the girl from school without permission and refused to turn over the girl’s clothing to her mother. Ūsas said he assisted Stankūnaitė. Lietuvos Rytas and other Lithuanian media covered the alleged pedophilia case and custody fight extensively before today’s murders.
Ūsas, Stankūnaitė, Kedys’ daughter and other people associated with Kedys are currently under police protection. Kedys is considered to likely be armed — guns from his home, which he shares with his parents on the outskirts of Kaunas, were missing when police inspected the house Monday.
— Baltic Reports assistant editor Adam Mullett contributed to this article.
THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN LITHUANIA…….
thx for not published mail but also for my deleted comment..seems here freedom of word sucks too!
Dear Justlithuanian,
We don’t have a record of you submitting a comment for this story. Your comment for the “Kaunas double-murder suspect on the lam” was published yesterday and can be viewed here — http://balticreports.com/?p=2570
As long as a comment fits our guidelines, we publish them. There’s freedom of speech here just like in Illinois.
Regards,
Nathan Greenhalgh
Editor
Baltic Reports
If they are guilty, Great job, definitely have my support.
bravo bravo bravo!!!
BRAVO THEY DESERV IT ! KILL ALL HWO RAPE CHILDRENS ! JUSTICE IS IN OUR HANDS NOT ON THE PEDOFILE JURGE !
The father is brave and courageous.
Just wanted to say that I back up Drąsius Kedys and wish he would be left alone.
Who knows, the same men chasing him might have had a revolting ***** with his daughter. too.
If Interpol has any sense, it will back down before more killings occur, which in this case would be even better – scum protects scum!
those pigs died to easy.the power is our hand,let’s use it.Drąsius is an idol for me.may god take care of him!
And this savage land is now in the EU?
How lucky we are!
My deepest respect for Mr Kedys a hero for us all! God bless you mate!! Keep on the good work. Best wishes and support from Poland!!
GOOD THING DRASIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t have kids yest but I would do the same. The system is the same in Romania, laws protect thiefs, violators, criminals..etc…I have had enough too but noone here has your courage!I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW YOUR EX-WIFE AND MOTHER OF YOUR LITTLE GIRL COULD HAVE DONE THAT…THESE PEOPLE DESERVE TO ROT IN JAIL!!!!!!!!!!
I respect you and I am sure God will help you do the justice you have too!! These thing seem unbelievable..I just hope your little girk will be ok when she grows up, healthy and happy!
And to be honest, I would be happy to have a husband like you!
with love and friendship, Adriana
The father Drasius Kedys, must be let with her child, not to be hunted by police. Here in Romania, thousands write in our romanian web sites in support for him.
Paedophiles must be hunted down and executed like the monsters they are. Drasius Kedys is a hero to the world. I wish there were more fathers – and more brave men like him.
RESPECT FROM JAPAN!
UNFORTUNATELY, this is the only language the pedophiles understand. Also the ones who “service” them (as the girl’s so called “mother”, Laima Stankūnaitė) should get the same treatment, approach!
TO RAPE A CHILD IS A CRIME (no normal psychological development can be achieved). And who commits this crime SHOULD PAY (in Israel the pedophiles are released after some years and soon after that they commit it again!!!).
Laima Stankūnaitė MUST STAY MANY, MANY YEARS BEHIND BARS and THE MOTHERHOOD RIGHT SHOULD BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HER!!!
My deepest respect for you Drąsius Kedys,brave and courageous father ! Best regards from Romania !
If these men did in fact molest Kedys’ daughter, death is too good of an end. Kedys is a better man than me. I’d have tortured and maimed the guys and let them live the rest of their lives in agonizing pain.
The newspapers and TV who work for government says Kedys killed the judge. Nobody knows truth. Another source says intelligence did that and I think Kedys gone forever and nobody can find him. The judge was key to truth. Corrupted government not interest to go public because there is pedophiles in it.
Kedys isn’t a murder. The job was done by state security department. They killed Kedys and then other people. 4 months have passed, and nothing is done. Now they are threatening Kedys’ sister, who is caring for the girl. They say, Kedys’ sister organized all murders and lie about paedophiles raping girl. And they want to return Kedys’ daughter to her mother, who was selling her for paedophilles. It is horrible, how the system lies and murders, and rapes our children. In network of paedophiles, high officials are involved. Paedophilia thrives in foster homes for children. Paedophile priest escaped punishment.
gaidys nelaimingas usas surasty ta invalida ir uzmusti as pats surasiu jy ir uzmusiu lai perskaito sita gaidys nelaimingas !!! tu sekantis!
HORRIBLE!!!!! How can the mother do this to her child? She must have a lot of friends in high places to get off.