On July 12, 2021, the body of Mauricio ‘Maurice’ Nascimento, 44, was discovered in Rush Common, SW2.
Maurice had suffered severe injuries in a vicious attack, including a broken nose, fractured skull and neck, and almost all of his ribs.
A murder investigation was opened, and a crime scene was set up. However, there were no obvious leads as to who was behind the deadly attack.
Forensic tests on a discarded belt and Maurice’s unbuttoned shirt revealed full DNA matches to Arturas Ptickinas, 29, of Norwood High Street, SE27. In fact, the likelihood of it coming from anyone else was rated as one in a billion – the highest match on the scientific scale.
Ptickinas’ DNA was also found to be similar to Maurice’s wrists, indicating that he was involved in dragging his body into the bushes.
DNA was also discovered on other parts of Maurice’s body, including his face and neck, where he had been struck by his attackers. However, the standard DNA test was insufficiently sensitive to produce a clear enough result to allow for DNA comparisons.
A more specialised test was performed, and it revealed that DNA from three people – Maurice, Ptickinas, and a third man identified as Ernestas Aleksandrovas, 29 of Norwood High Street, SE27 – was present.
Forensic tests on Mr Nascimento’s right hand’s fingers and palm revealed that they matched Mr Aleksnadrovas’s DNA – and the chances of it not being his are one in a billion.
The DNA matches, combined with an analysis of CCTV footage that showed the pair leaving their home address and heading towards the Rush Common area when the murder is suspected to have taken place, aided in the prosecution of Ptickinas and Aleksandrovas.
Aleksandrovas was also connected to the crime scene because his cellphone was used at 03.16 on the night of the murder and connected to a telephone mast near Rush Common.
On Friday, January 20, both defendants appeared at Kingston Crown Court, where, following a trial, Arturas Ptickinas was convicted of murder and Ernestas Aleksandrovas was convicted of murder and perverting the course of justice.
“This case demonstrated how the Met combines forensic expertise with the investigative skills of our homicide detectives to solve murders,” said Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, the officer involved in the case.
We will never know what happened in the moments leading up to Maurice Nascimento’s death, but we do know that the attack was brutal, merciless, and completely unjustified.
I’m relieved that the two defendants have been found guilty and will be off London’s streets for a long time.”