Antanas Varnelis

Antanas Varnelis (1971 – 28 September 1994) was a Lithuanian serial killer who killed six people and attempted to kill three more between July and December 1992, in several municipalities around the country (Kelmė, Šiauliai, Raseiniai, Šakiai and Jurbarkas). He targeted lonely elderly people living in remote villages and robbed their houses to pay for his alcohol addiction. He was later executed for these crimes, the fifth of seven people executed before the capital punishment was abolished in Lithuania.

Early life Varnelis was born on 1 January 1971, in the village of in the Telšiai District, in a family with six more children (three boys and three girls). The family was dysfunctional: both parents were alcoholics and all of their children, including young Antanas, were sent to various homes. Varnelis ended up in an orphanage in Viešvilė. There, he established himself as reserved and unsociable, often running away and wandering around the neighbourhood. He was prone to theft and asocial behaviour, for which, at the age of 11, he was transferred to a specialized boarding school for difficult teenagers in the town of Gelgaudiškis. Varnelis abused alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and picked on those weaker than him, but was respectful to those stronger than him. He continued to steal and run away and showed no academic inclinations. After leaving the school, the state provided Varnelis with a workplace and dormitory room. At the same time, he tried to study at an agricultural school in Kudirkos Naumiestis, but soon abandoned it.

In August 1987, at the age of 16, Varnelis was first convicted of stealing 12 beer bottles and a chicken from a grocery store. He underwent an examination in a psychiatric hospital in , where he was diagnosed with mild intellectual disability with pronounced psychopathic tendencies but was judged competent to stand trial. He was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in an educational colony, but the sentence was postponed. Just a few months later, he robbed a passer-by stealing his wallet and was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in Pravieniškės. He was released on 14 January 1992.

After this, he did not have a more permanent place and wandered around various villages. In July, together with his brother Pranas, Antanas robbed a house of a forester in in the Šakiai District. Pranas was apprehended while Antanas escaped. On 28 July, he committed his first murder in in the Šakiai District. The victim was a lonely 70-year-old local, whom Varnelis beat to death. He then stole 2,000 rubles and set the house on fire to cover his tracks.

On 14 November, near the village of in the Kelmė District, Varnelis killed for the 4th time – another lonely pensioner, from whom he stole a bicycle, a raincoat, a coffee grinder, hair spray, several bottles of homemade wine and groceries. The body of the 68-year-old woman, who was hit a total of nine times with an axe, was found a week later covered by straws. Varnelis lived in the victim's house for at least a day after the murder. The police arrested five suspects, but they provided an alibi and were released.

On 5 December, in the village of in the Raseiniai District, Varnelis killed two women, a 92-year-old woman and her 68-year-old daughter-in-law. He remained in the house overnight drinking champagne, and on leaving, he stole several bottles of alcohol, two pairs of watches, two gold wedding rings, groceries and 15,000 talonas. The daughter-in-law was found still alive, but she died later in hospital. and Varnelis was executed on 28 September 1994, in Vilnius. He was buried in the in the section for those unclaimed by relatives.