Arturs Putrasevics, aged 39, has been sentenced to “a minimum of 22-and-a-half years in prison” for murder “after entering a pharmacy in Coventry covered in blood”.
Putrasevics came into the pharmacy “holding a knife claiming that he’d killed someone”, West Midlands police last week (June 21) revealed.
Read more: ‘Pool of blood’: Half-naked man stages frenzied attack outside pharmacy
He was arrested after making the pharmacy confession, it added.
“Immediate enquiries led officers to Astra Sirapina’s home on Burnaby Road, where they found her body with multiple stab wounds,” it said.
Sirapina, who was 62, “was tragically pronounced dead at the scene”, it added.
“Tried to deny”
“Further investigations revealed that Putrasevics, of no fixed address, knew Sirapina and where she lived due to knowing a relative of hers,” the force said.
But despite “initially claiming to have killed someone, Putrasevics then refused to answer questions from detectives”, it added.
Read more: Pharmacy assistant murdered by man with a ‘grudge against pharmacies’
He “continued to answer ‘no comment’ to specific questions put to him during interview”, it said.
And after being charged with murder, Putrasevics “tried to deny [it] by claiming diminished responsibility”, it added.
However, the claim was “not supported in court following expert assessment”, the force said.
Read more: ‘Horrific’: Ex-pharmacy manager jailed for life for murdering brother in chippy
He pleaded guilty to the murder and possession of a bladed article earlier this month, it added.
Putrasevics was last week (June 19) sentenced to life in prison at Coventry Crown Court to serve a minimum of 22-and-a-half years, it said.
“A vulnerable woman”
“This was a truly horrific attack on a vulnerable woman,” said detective inspector Ade George, who led the investigation.
“We have tried our absolute best to get answers for Sirapina’s loved ones,” he added.
“Although we may never truly know why Putrasevics did what he did, it is right that he has been convicted and sentenced for the crime of murder,” he stressed.
Read more: ‘Ponzi scheme’ pharmacist gets life sentence for husband’s murder
“This has been an unimaginably difficult time for Sirapina’s family and we have been in close contact with them throughout our investigation,” he said.
“Our thoughts remain with them following the sentencing,” he added.
Last April, a man was charged after a woman was attacked with a brick and a stick outside a Stoke-on-Trent Pharmacy.
Read more: Killer Clown: Book reveals murder witness pharmacy worker’s story
Another man, identified as former boxer Tayyib Muqeem, parked his car and swiftly intervened.
Pharmacy owner Navid Kaleem told C+D at the time that he had been working at his other pharmacy when he received a call from the staff at Derby Street telling him that someone had been attacked outside the pharmacy and that there was a “pool of blood”.
He added that the staff, though shaken, “bravely remained at the pharmacy” dealing with urgent matters and only unlocking the door to hand over prescriptions.
