Estonian national to be tried for murder of Lithuanian MMA fighter Remigijus Morkevičius
Remigijus Morkevičius, a Lithuanian MMA fighter, was murdered in the city of Kaunas in front of his house by shots fired from an automatic firearm on Dec. 21, 2016.
Now, almost eight years later, the case has been handed over to the court, and charges have been brought against Estonian citizen Imre Arakas, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Monday.
Arakas, who is known to European law enforcement, was arrested in Ireland in 2017 when he was preparing to kill a well-known Irish criminal.
In December 2018, he was found guilty by an Irish court and sentenced to six years in prison. After serving his sentence in Ireland, the Estonian was handed over to Lithuanian law enforcement in January last year for prosecution for crimes committed in Lithuania.
According to the prosecutor’s office, after being questioned and informed about the investigation, Arakas pleaded guilty to both charges against him. He has five convictions in Estonia.
Morkevičius had a pro MMA record of 16-5 and fought for K-1, Bushido, and Shooto, among other promotions.
Remigijus Morkevičius was 34 years old at the time of his death.
Morkevičius began kickboxing and Muay Thai at age of 12. He started off his career in Lithuania as a kickboxer becoming a national champion in both kickboxing and Muay Thai. He transitioned across to MMA in 2002 defeating Darius Baliulis at a local event. This win led to his being signed by Japanese promotion ZST and he would make a quick impact in Japan, knocking out his first four opponents in brutal fashion (mostly with his trademark knees) and qualifying for the 2004 ZST Grand Prix where he would suffer his first MMA defeat to Marcus Aurélio in the Semi Finals.
