Murder charge dropped against husband of woman found dead in Suffolk pond

The Crown Prosecution Service has said there's not enough evidence

Author: Sam Russell, PAPublished 7th Jan 2022

Prosecutors have dropped a murder charge against the husband of a woman who was found drowned in a pond in Suffolk as there was “insufficient evidence to proceed” to a trial.

Andrius Vengalis, 46, had been charged with the murder of 35-year-old Egle Vengaliene who was found dead in a pond at Brandon Country Park in Suffolk on April 9th last year.

Police were called by the ambulance service shortly before 7am, with the body later identified as Ms Vengaliene, of Bury Road in Brandon.

Mr Vengalis, also of Bury Road in Brandon, was arrested on April 9 and was charged on April 12 with murder.

He denied the charge and, on Thursday, the case was discontinued at Ipswich Crown Court as there was “insufficient evidence to proceed”, Suffolk Police said.

The force said in a statement: “At Ipswich Crown Court today … the Crown Prosecution Service made a submission for the case to be discontinued as there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

“The court heard that a post-mortem examination had concluded the cause of death was drowning but was unable to determine how this had occurred.

“The inquiry will remain open pending any new information coming to light, but a file will now be passed to the coroner for inquest proceedings to take place.”

Anyone with information about the death of Ms Vengaliene is asked to call the Major Investigation Team on 101 quoting reference 17570/21.

Alternatively, people can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.