Estonian court gives life sentence to man who killed 2 in Narva

Photo: Politsei- ja piirivalveamet

The Viru county court in northeastern Estonia on Thursday found 30-year-old Anton Bulbenko guilty of killing two people and a threat to kill a third person and sentenced him to life in prison.

The court also found a co-defendant, 56-year-old Aleksei Lavrenov, to be guilty of manslaughter and punished him with a jail sentence of 11 years. A third man, 41-year-old Dmitri Jekimov, was found guilty of physical abuse and punished with a jail term of two years, spokespeople for the Viru county court told BNS.

The charge of threat to kill lodged against Bulbenko concerns events at a bailiff's office in Puskini street, Narva, on June 13, 2014, where Bulbenko threatened a bailiff performing official duties with causing health damage and killing.

The first count of manslaughter had to do with events in a Rakvere street apartment in Narva on July 2, 2014, where Bulbenko, Lavrenov, Jekimov and a woman who has since died beat up a 60-year-old man. Lavrenov and Bulbenko then killed their victim.

Bulbenko and Jekimov are also accused of beating a 51-year-old man in a Puskini street apartment in Narva between July 2 and July 3, 2014. After the beating Bulbenko inflicted multiple knife wounds to the victim's neck and chin as a result of which the victim died.

Announcing the verdict, the court pointed out that Bulbenko has been punished for physical abuse on three occasions earlier and the violent acts committed by him have become ever more dangerous and brutal despite the punishments.

The court said the dangerousness of Bulbenko's behavior is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the killing of the first victim caused not remorse in him and he continued to consume alcohol. Already on the following day he resorted to unjustified brutal violence to solve a minor conflict with the second victim.