Jury retires to decide if man killed nine-year-old by stabbing her in the heart
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The jury in a trial of the facts has retired to determine whether a man carried out the act of killing a nine-year-old girl by stabbing her in the heart.
Deividas Skebas is charged with murdering Lilia Valutyte by stabbing her in broad daylight in Boston, Lincolnshire, last July but is unfit to plead or face trial due to his mental health.
Instead, the 23-year-old is the subject of a trial of the facts at Lincoln Crown Court but has played no part in proceedings.
The jury cannot deliver a verdict of guilty or not guilty of murder, due to a trial of the facts not deciding whether Skebas intended to kill, but must instead make a determination as to whether he physically committed the act of killing.
This is a desperately sad case, but you must try it on the evidence, and not on any emotion you may feel
Giving the jury of six men and six women final legal directions, Mrs Justice McGowan DBE said: “You have to decide whether you are sure that Deividas Skebas killed Lilia Valutyte.
“The prosecution makes the allegation and they must prove it so that you are sure.
“Put any emotion out of your decision-making. This is a desperately sad case, but you must try it on the evidence, and not on any emotion you may feel.
“Please try to reach a decision on which all 12 of you agree.
“The fundamental question is, is that Deividas Skebas on the CCTV footage and are we sure that he killed Lilia Valutyte?
“You are simply being asked to let us know whether you are sure or not that Deividas Skebas is the man seen on CCTV, who undoubtedly is the man who killed Lilia.
“Concentrate on that. Is that him? Are you sure?
“Take as much time as you need to reach your decision.”
I grabbed the knife and I stabbed her
A trial of facts – also known as a finding of fact, trial of the act, or trial of the issue – is not to decide whether someone intended to commit an act or question a defendant’s state of mind but to determine whether they physically did it.
While a defendant cannot be criminally convicted, the burden of proof for a jury remains beyond all reasonable doubt.
On the second day of proceedings on Tuesday, the Crown’s KC, Christopher Donnellan, read the court a transcript of Skebas’s interview with police following his arrest.
In the interview, Skebas admitted: “I grabbed the knife and I stabbed her.”
The court previously saw CCTV of a man alleged to be Skebas pacing around Boston town centre on the evening of July 28 last year, having been seen buying a paring knife in the town’s Wilko store two days earlier.
At around 6.15pm, the man was seen running towards Lilia, who was playing with a hula-hoop outside a shop where her mother worked in Fountain Lane.
He stabbed her once and ran away, with Lilia dying at 7.11pm after the blade pierced her heart.
The knife was later recovered “tucked behind a radiator” when police searched Skebas’s property in Thorold Street, Boston, two days later.
A blood-stained grey Calvin Klein T-shirt was also found, with DNA from the blood matching that of Lilia.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Donnellan said: “The prosecution case is that he unlawfully killed her with that single stab wound to the chest.
“You are only deciding whether he did it. You don’t have to decide about his intention or indeed about his mental state.”
If Skebas, a Lithuanian national, is found responsible for Lilia’s death, the only sentence the court can pass is a hospital order.
He could stand in a conventional trial in future if his mental health improves.
