Martin Vítek admits to murder in Dlouhá Loučka, faces up to 20 years imprisonment
Nineteen-year-old Martin Vítek admitted in court to last year's murder of a man in Dlouhá Loučka. The judge accepted the admission, and the prosecutor proposes 17 years imprisonment.
Nineteen-year-old killer from Dlouhá Loučka admits guilt, prosecutor seeks 17 years
Nineteen-year-old Martin Vítek, charged with the murder of a 31-year-old man in Dlouhá Loučka in the Olomouc region, declared his guilt before the court today. Judge Jiří Barbořík accepted his statement. According to Czech news, the young man faces a sentence ranging from 12 to 20 years imprisonment; prosecutor Karel Studený proposed 17 years.
Vítek came to the hearing in handcuffs — the court feared he might attempt to escape or attack court officers. Before the judge, he stated that he agreed with everything and had no problem with the proposed sentence. "I do not want to prove anything," the young man said.
Murder in an abandoned cowshed, planned three days in advance
The murder took place late last September in an old cowshed full of rubbish, where people from a socially disadvantaged background live. Vítek attacked the victim with a kitchen knife with a blade longer than 20 centimetres, stabbing him in the neck. The man died at the scene.
According to the prosecutor, a prior personal dispute between the two men lay behind the act. Jan Lisický, head of the general crime division of the Olomouc regional police, told journalists at the time: "The attack was treacherous, sudden, unexpected and fatal." According to Lisický, the motive was personal pride. Investigators calculated that Vítek had planned the murder three days in advance.
Police discovered the victim by chance in the abandoned building. They detained the suspect seven hours after the act. Judge Barbořík stated that Vítek provided police with a detailed description of how the act was carried out and the circumstances that preceded it. The perpetrator's movements were also captured by security recordings from the crime scene.
Admission of guilt shortens investigation, experts to speak on Thursday
The admission of guilt means the court will not conduct standard investigation proceedings. At the request of the defendant, expert reports will be heard only on Thursday, aimed at clarifying his mental state and prior drug abuse.
The court also established today that Vítek was sentenced in May by the Olomouc district court to 2.5 years imprisonment for robbery — a combined sentence also including four previous months for theft. At the time of committing the murder, however, Vítek had only recently reached adulthood.
The case fits into a concerning trend: investigators in the Olomouc region last year examined 15 murders or attempted murders, which they describe as a record number. A year earlier there had been six.
Source: České noviny