The man who burned to death in Tukums in spring earlier this year committed suicide. What happened had nothing to do with the threats the man had previously received, as concluded by Latvian State Police.
BNN previously reported that State Police received information about a fire at an apartment in Tukums at 04:24 a.m. on 23 April. Upon arriving at the scene police officers found that two men had been burned. Both were hospitalized, but one of them later died.
According to State Police press-secretary Simona Grāvīte, an investigation of the matter commenced immediately. Initially it was classified as crime as detailed in Section 13 of the Criminal Law. Investigation was handed to State Police Zemgale Region Department Criminal Police Office for Severe and Serial Crimes Enforcement Office.
On 28 April the criminal procedure was re-classified in accordance with Part 1 of Section 124 of the Criminal Law – leading a person to commit suicide. The investigation continued under tight monitoring from the office of the prosecutor.
This story quickly made public and caused heated discussions. According to the Chief of State Police Armands Ruks, development of the story in the media and social media took uncontrolled manner, facts were enveloped in rumours, causing unjustified and surprising resonance not just in Latvia but in other countries as well.
According to information available to State Police, based on available materials of the case it is unlikely there was a homophobic or other kind of hate crime committed. However, before presenting the public with this information it was necessary to acquire proof, explains Grāvīte.
State Police investigators have done all they could to determine how this tragedy happened, claims Ruks, adding that each version was checked.
According to the police, 45 people were interviewed, 14 examinations, including examinations of video and audio recordings, lab examinations and a number of other investigative actions were performed.
Among the items police had taken from the scene included e-cigarette, lighter and a bottle of lighting fluid.
Read also: Tukums incident victim Normunds Kindzulis passes away
«Several complex examinations were organized a couple of days after the incident. Experts’ conclusions and what was found is clear – only the victim’s fingerprints and his biological trace was found at the scene. It is also important to not that when the victim was hospitalized doctors found 1.75 ppm of alcohol in his blood,» as noted in the police report.
An internal investigation also commenced in response to information about police allegedly improperly responding to the victim’s reports death threats.
The investigation did not yield any proof of negligence on the part of Tukums police. Evidence was acquired to support the version that what happened in Tukums had nothing to do with the request submitted to the police in regards to receiving threats.
State Police acquired proof that this tragic incident was a suicide the reason for which was personal motives in the context of domestic relationships, as noted in the police report.
The reason why the decision was made to end the criminal procedure was made in accordance with Section 377 of the Criminal Law – no criminal offence had taken place.
«When incidents happen and shock society, people want quick and immediate results. At the same time, many people still don’t understand why some of the details known to the police are being made public. I would like to remind everyone that a criminal investigation is an accurate and difficult task, and it cannot be public. Police can reveal detail only once the investigation is over and there are no objective reasons that would make it impossible to speak of the details in public. This incident also demonstrated the negative side of some members of our society that borders with hate speech,» explains Ruks.
Police: the man who burned to death in Tukums in spring committed suicide. Case closed
