Kettering 'trophy body' murderer's bid to overturn conviction fails

A murderer who bludgeoned his flatmate to death and joked about keeping his body as a ‘trophy’ has lost a bid to overturn his conviction.

Mindaugas Kaminskas killed fellow Lithuanian Juozas Meilunas with a wooden table leg at the run-down bedsit they shared in Woodlands Court, Kettering.

The body of Mr Meilunas, 51, was found in an advanced state of decomposition on Boxing Day in 2018, about 12 weeks after he had died.

Kaminskas – who asked a former colleague if he wanted to see a dead body – was found guilty of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years behind bars.

Last week the 32-year-old applied for leave to appeal against his conviction despite being more than 700 days out of time. He said he was stressed after being sentenced and needed time to calm down.

London’s Royal Courts of Justice heard that the grounds of appeal made by Kaminskas, who was not represented at the hearing, included a claim that he might have been the victim of ‘some sort of modern slavery’.

The murderer, who still insists that he is innocent, also said that he had been badly represented in a trial at Northampton Crown Court and that the translator was not working properly.

Further claims included that it was unfair that the jury had been told about a previous assault conviction, that witnesses were drug users who talked ‘nonsense’ and that witnesses who gave evidence did not understand that he ‘was a good man’.

But appeal judges Lady Justice Macur, Mr Justice Pepperall and Mrs Justice Ellenbogen dismissed his bid.

Mr Justice Pepperall said: "There are no arguable grounds for appeal."

People living near the scene of the crime had alerted police after finding a flood at the flat when they went to check it out having seen trespassers running away.

An officer found the body of street drinker Mr Meilunas under a duvet with blood splatters on the wall and a painstaking murder investigation was launched.

A forensic entomologist said that he had likely died between late September and early October, with a pathologist concluding that he had suffered repeated blows to the head with a blunt object. A table leg found nearby had the DNA of both Kaminskas and his victim on and prosecutors said he had been struck in ‘an explosion of violence’.

The investigation found agency worker Mr Meilunas, who often slept rough, had not logged in at work since September 21. A neighbour saw him with a swollen face on September 27 and reported him missing in November after growing concerned.

A number of people came forward after police appeals following his death, including one which directly appealed to the Lithuanian community in their mother tongue.

In the days after the killing Kaminskas used his victim's bank card and withdrew cash. He even told friends and former colleagues he had a 'trophy' dead body in his flat and asked if they wanted to come and see it. One friend who gave evidence said he thought he was joking.

Kaminskas fled to Lithuania and was arrested when he tried to return to England.