Brothers get 15 years for murdering taxi driver
The two brothers that murdered a taxi driver in January 2016, Filip-Artur and Benjamin Hiienurme, were sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Pärnu County court on Monday. The prosecutor previously demanded life sentences for both.
The trial of the 21 and 19-year-old men began on Jan. 9 this year. Prosecutor for the West district, Gardi Anderson, had asked the court for life sentences for both.
The two were found guilty of having murdered a 65-year-old taxi driver. According to the investigation’s results, they stabbed the man at least 95 times. The victim had stabbing wounds in his head, neck, hands, and legs, the sum of which eventually was fatal.
The brothers have partially admitted guilt, though the lawyer of Benjamin Hiienurme, Rünno Roosmaa, insists that sighting over 1,000 pages of documents he hadn’t seen any proof that would justify the verdict. The only thing that could be established beyond any doubt was that they had stolen a car, Roosmaa said.
The police were informed on Jan. 31, 2016 at around 9 p.m. that a taxi had been stolen. The owner of the car couldn’t be reached. After the police learned that the car had crossed over into Latvia about an hour later, they informed the Latvian and Lithuanian authorities.
The Lithuanian police stopped the taxi and arrested the two brothers close to the town of Panevėžys. The body of the taxi driver was found the next day close to the village of Pulli in Pärnu County.
Editor: Dario Cavegn