A man and woman have been convicted of a murder in Newham after a man was stabbed over 35 times
A man and woman have been convicted of a murder in Newham. Asta Juskauskiene, 35, of 35 Iron Mill Lane, was found guilty of murder and perverting the course of justice on 9 January at the Old Bailey. The jury heard 42-year-old Giedrius Juskauskas was stabbed to death by Juskauskiene’s younger lover in a Stratford alleyway. That man – Mantas Kvedaras, 25, – pleaded guilty to Giedrius’s murder at the Old Bailey on Thursday, 17 October. The fatal attack took place on 17 June 2019 in Whalebone Lane, E15 and emergency services were called after a witness found Giedrius lying on the floor bleeding from the neck, but still breathing. Medics from London Ambulance Service and Met officers had arrived at the scene within six minutes of the 999 call being made, and they were joined a short time later by a team from London’s Air Ambulance. Despite their efforts, Giedrius died at the scene at 1.01am. A post-mortem examination established that Giedrius had at least 35 separate stab wounds to his body, chest and neck. Some of his bones had been damaged which suggested that severe force had been used by Kvedaras. Giedrius, a Lithuanian national who had been living in London for around a decade, was continuing a physical relationship with Juskauskiene with whom he had a child – despite their divorce in December 2018. Kvedaras had come to the UK five days before the murder to stay with Juskauskiene, after they began a relationship over social media. This was as he served a prison sentence in Lithuania for the sexual assault of a teenager. Police quickly determined that Giedrius’s murder was likely to be the result of a targeted attack. It transpired that Juskauskiene had been in contact with both her ex-husband and Kvedaras in the hours leading to the murder and was key to orchestrating the fatal meeting. In the days afterwards, Juskauskiene arranged the removal of personal documents of Kvedaras’s from her home, where he continued to stay before his arrest. Juskauskiene, a care worker whose work had been praised by her employer, consistently lied to police during interview and deleted potentially incriminating text messages from her phone. The couple were both arrested on 19 June and charged with murder the following day. Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith said: "Both Juskauskiene and Kvedaras intended to cause serious harm to Giedrius, who will now never see his daughter grow up. "The level of violence used in the attack was brutal and his last moments must have been painful and terrifying. It is a relief that Juskauskiene will now also serve time in prison for her part in the sinister plan. "It is clear that both intended to kill or cause serious injury to Giedrius and both are equally responsible for his death. It is better for all that they are not out in society where they could potentially cause harm to someone else." The pair will be sentenced on 7 February.
