Leonardas Zavistonovicius

Case overview

Leonardas Zavistonovičius went on a house-to-house shooting spree in Draučiai, a small village in the Širvintos District Municipality, Lithuania, on February 15, 1998. He was 58 years old. He killed nine people and wounded another before being beaten to death by survivors the same day.

Timeline

• February 15, 1998 (around 4 p.m.) — Zavistonovičius armed himself with a Russian hunting rifle IZH-12 and a Czech carbine ZKK-601 with telescopic sight.
• February 15, 1998 (within the next half-hour) — He went to four houses and killed nine neighbours and their relatives, all with single shots to the head or chest.
• February 15, 1998 (around 10 p.m.) — Zavistonovičius was taken in custody and died in hospital (cause of death: fracture in base of skull).
• A week later (after February 15, 1998) — Jadvyga Vrubliauskienė died in Vilnius Red Cross Hospital.

The offence

Zavistonovičius killed nine people and wounded another during his spree, using a Russian hunting rifle IZH-12 and a Czech carbine ZKK-601 with telescopic sight. Both weapons were held legally, with permit renewal less than a year before the spree.

He first went to the most distant farm from his house. Its owner, Jonas Bareikas, was shot and killed in his bed. Zavistonovičius shot Bareikas' partner, Marytė Rutkauskienė, who was making broom stalls at the time.

He then approached Bareikas' neighbour, Leonas Garbatavičius, who he shot dead at the front door of his house.

His next stop was the Vrubliauskas farm. There, he killed Vytautas Vrubliauskas and wounded his mother, Jadvyga, and his sister, Zofija.

Zofija Vrubliauskaitė, who lived in Širvintos and came to visit the family on the weekend, died the same night in Širvintos hospital while undergoing surgery. Jadvyga Vrubliauskienė died a week later in Vilnius Red Cross Hospital.

Zavistonovičius then moved to Raudeliūnas' home, the closest to his own house. The next victims were Vanda Raudeliūnienė and her visiting daughter, Dalia Kalibatienė. Dalia Kalibatienė was a senior lieutenant with the Ministry of National Defence. Zavistonovičius also killed a dog that attempted to defend the women.

He fetched a mattress from his own house so he would not have to lie down on cold winter ground and took cover to ambush Antanas Raudeliūnas, his son-in-law Mindaugas Kalibatas, and his grandsons Vilius and Tadas. The men were gathering wood in a nearby forest. They heard the shots but were not immediately concerned because they thought they were hunters who frequented the forests.

When the four men came out of the woods, Zavistonovičius first shot Mindaugas Kalibatas in the chest. The bullet grazed, ripping a piece of flesh but not causing more serious internal damage. Zavistonovičius then shot Vilius as he ran to help his father.

When the gunman approached them, Kalibatas and his other son, Tadas, attacked him, grabbed his rifles, and beat him until he collapsed.

No phones were available among the village inhabitants. Mindaugas Kalibatas drove himself and his son Vilius to hospital in Širvintos, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) away; Vilius died en route. The hospital alerted the police and sent ambulances to the village.

Zofija Vrubliauskaitė and Jadvyga Vrubliauskienė were found still alive when the victims were discovered at the scene.

Arrest and death

Zavistonovičius was taken in custody and died around 10 p.m. in hospital. His cause of death was a fracture in the base of skull. Only two inhabitants of the village were left alive: Antanas Raudeliūnas and Zavistonovičius' mother, Juzefa.

Victims

• Jonas Bareikas, 40 — killed
• Marytė Rutkauskienė — partner of Jonas Bareikas, killed
• Leonas Garbatavičius, 58 — killed
• Dalia Kalibatienė, 48 — killed
• Vilius Kalibatas, 17 — killed
• Vanda Raudeliūnienė, 66 — killed
• Jadvyga Vrubliauskienė, 76 — killed a week later in Vilnius Red Cross Hospital
• Vytautas Vrubliauskas, 38 — killed
• Zofija Vrubliauskaitė, 42 — died the same night in Širvintos hospital while undergoing surgery

Investigation and government response

The Lithuanian government reacted at the highest levels because it feared the shooting spree was politically motivated and might provoke further violence. It occurred on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Act of Independence of Lithuania.

Zavistonovičius was a member of the Polish minority in Lithuania, and his victims were Lithuanian. Prime Minister Gediminas Vagnorius assembled a special commission to investigate the circumstances of the crime.

The press secretary of the Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas failed to convince the media to delay the news until Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski departed the celebrations in Vilnius.

Minister of the Interior Vidmantas Žiemelis was sent to deliver government condolences in person.

The government paid for the funerals of the victims. The funeral of the Kalibatienė family in Salininkai was attended by many dignitaries, including Minister of National Defence Česlovas Stankevičius, members of the Seimas, and officers of the Lithuanian Army.

The investigation found that the shooting spree was caused by a mental illness (chronic delusions similar to schizophrenia), and not a political agenda.

Firearms and psychiatric history

Zavistonovičius held a gun for hunting since 1975. The permits were periodically renewed. As part of the renewal process, he had to pass an examination by a psychiatrist.

None of the psychiatrists who examined Zavistonovičius noticed anything suspicious, which caused much controversy.

During the investigation, it was uncovered that in 1985, Zavistonovičius had been referred to and examined by the Vilnius Psychiatric Hospital.

The prosecutor's office explored a possibility of charging with negligence the seven doctors who signed off on Zavistonovičius' gun permit. It was determined that the doctors were not negligent because, without a centralized database, they could not know that Zavistonovičius was treated at a psychiatric hospital, and his symptoms were masked and controlled well enough in public to pass the brief examination without suspicion.

Family background and behaviour

Zavistonovičius was married three times. His third wife separated from him just ten months before the shooting and described his morbid jealousy and persecutory delusions. Neighbours saw him as an intelligent and helpful man.

Relatives had begun noticing various symptoms since 1978, which may have been related to a car crash in 1976.

Police statements

“It seemed that he wanted to kill everyone in the village,” a police spokesman said of the massacre in Drauchiu in the Shirvintos region.

Police identified the gunman as Leonard Zavistanovich, 58, and said his motive was not known. A gunman went on a house-to-house killing spree and shot dead eight neighbours before being beaten to death by survivors in a small village in Lithuania, police said.