Man jailed for life for murder of Bournemouth teenager

A Bournemouth man who stabbed a 16 year-old teenager to death has been sentenced to life in prison.

26 year-old Alvin Jay Santos was convicted on Friday at Winchester Crown Court of the murder of Linda Lietaviete. Today, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and handed a minimum term of 20 years before being eligible for parole.

The court heard that Santos killed Miss Lietaviete on Horseshoe Common in Bournemouth town centre on the evening of Thursday 12th December 2013, after an evening out together. Miss Lietaviete was stabbed seven times in her upper body, two of which pierced her heart. Following the attack, Santos returned home at about midnight and told his sister that he had stabbed someone.

Giving evidence in court, Santos’ sister revealed that she called 999 and alerted the emergency services to search the area. Miss Lietaviete’s body was found covered in leaves.

Detective Inspector Marcus Hester, of Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team, said, “This was a violent and sustained attack on a young girl who was supposedly a friend. Linda was highly regarded by her family and college and had many friends. She was a hard-working and loved girl whose life was cut tragically short by the actions of an older man. My thoughts go out to her mother and family."

In a statement, Linda’s family said, “Linda was murdered on 12 December 2013. From the moment we were told by police that she had been killed the life of our family changed forever. We couldn’t believe what we were being told, even now we keep thinking that Linda is going to come back to us. Linda was only 16 at the time of her death and had her whole life ahead of her. She was doing well at college and would talk of the further education that she wanted to take. She was a conscientious and caring girl and would always be thinking about her family."