Court archive

Drogheda. The Central Criminal Court

2016-06-07 · Louth

Jury to continue deliberations in body-in-basement trial

In a trial held at the Central Criminal Court, a jury will resume deliberations on a case involving Aivars Sondors, a 54‑year‑old Latvian, who faces three counts of assisting an offender without reasonable excuse. Sondors is accused of helping Marius Gaizutis evade capture and prosecution after Gaizutis murdered 44‑year‑old Lithuanian Audrius Butkus on 9 or 10 September 2013. The alleged assistance includes moving Butkus's body from the shared house on Marsh Road in Drogheda to the sea at Mornington Beach, cleaning the scene, and disposing of carpet, clothing, a nail brush, a bin bag, bottles and tins from the Burke House on Mathew's Lane. Gaizutis has already been convicted of the murder, which involved him striking Butkus with the blunt end of an axe. Sondors has pleaded not guilty to all three counts, claiming duress and that he acted under the killer's orders.

2016-06-03 · Louth

Jury begins deliberating in trial of man accused of body disposal

The jury has begun deliberations in the trial of Aivars Sondors, a 54‑year‑old Latvian, charged with three counts of assisting an offender without reasonable excuse. The charges relate to the disposal of the body of 44‑year‑old Lithuanian Audrius Butkus, who was murdered by Marius Gaizutis. Sondors is accused of moving the body from the house he shared with Gaizutis on Marsh Road in Drogheda to the sea at Mornington Beach, cleaning up the scene at Marsh Road, and disposing of carpet, clothing, a nail brush, bin bag, bottles and tins from the scene at the Burke House on Mathew's Lane. He has pleaded not guilty to all three counts, claiming duress and that he acted under the killer's orders. The Central Criminal Court has heard that Gaizutis has already been convicted of the murder. The jury, consisting of nine men and three women, began deliberating in the afternoon and will resume on Tuesday.