Wisbech man who lured murder victim to his death pleads guilty to manslaughter
Mindaugas Arlauskas was murdered back in May.
A man who lured a work colleague to his house in Wisbech where he was beaten to death has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Tomas Lazdauskas appeared before Peterborough Crown Court yesterday (2 November) and denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
The burned body 28 year old Mindaugas Arlauskas ,was found by a member of the public in an industrial estate in Wisbech on 9 May.
The night before 24 year old Lazdauskas had invited Mindaugas to his house in Milner Road following an earlier dispute involving two other women.
The victim arrived to find Lazdauskas had been drinking in the house with another man, 27 year old Donatas Umbrasas,
It was not long before tempers began to flare and violence erupted.
Umbrasas swung for the victim, knocking him to the floor before repeatedly slapping and punching him in the face.
He dragged Mindaugas outside to the garden, where he beat him to death with a metal pole, garden chair and other items he could find in the garden.
The two men then used Mindaugas’s bike to transport his body out of the house on to the street outside.
They were captured on CCTV as they pushed the body to a nearby industrial estate
They tried to destroy evidence of the murder by setting the body alight.
A post mortem revealed Mindaugas died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
Umbrasas, of Albany Road, Wisbech, admitted murder at a previous hearing.
Both men have been remanded and are due to be sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on 18 December.
Detective Inspector Emma Pitts, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said:
"Because of the barbaric actions of Lazdauskas and Umbrasas, a young man has been struck down in the prime of his life.
"While it might not have been Lazdauskas’ intention to commit murder, he knowingly lured Mindaugas to his house, aware of the fact Umbrasas intended to hurt him.
"I hope this conviction brings some closure for Mr Arlauskas’s family."
In a tribute, Mindaugas’s parents said:
“We are devastated by the sudden loss of our beloved son. He was much loved by us and our family and will be deeply missed.”