Entire city traps murder suspect in park after he allegedly kills two women

Several hundred people co-ordinated their responses in order to secretly keep the suspect from leaving the park after he was alleged to have murdered two women in cold blood

Several hundred residents in a town have been able to trap a murder suspect and help police arrest him. The entire plan was organised on secret messaging apps and refused to let him leave until officers arrived.

Benas Mikutavičius is suspected of murdering two young women in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas on Thursday (December 4). He had initially fled the scene, with police appealing for information about the alleged killer.

But within a matter of hours, residents in the city had found the man and began communicating with each other, trying to find the best way to apprehend him and hand him over to the authorities. Every little detail of his movements was eventually tracked and reported, until he was detained on Saturday morning (December 6).

According to Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT, the case first began when the bodies of two women aged 22 and 24 were discovered, having shown signs of being stabbed and other forms of violence. Officers began their enquiries and soon led to 29-year-old Mikutavičius, who lived in the city for several years.

The first victim was a relative of the suspect whilst the second victim was a woman who worked for a rental company. It is believed that he pretended he wanted to rent an apartment before carrying out his crime.

He then fled the scene, prompting a nationwide search, but soon showed up in a park in the same city, prompting locals to start messaging each other to try and stop him from leaving the park. He was also aware he was on the run, as he had changed his clothes several times since CCTV footage of the suspect was first released.

Residents in the area soon began to use the Zello app to communicate, which works in a similar fashion to a walkie-talkie but uses the internet, providing unlimited range. The app — which is usually used to soothe babies — allows the user to speak with just one button, and the voice is immediately transmitted to others in the area who also have the app.

Throughout the course of the manhunt, several clips were being archived of the coordination happening in real time, as one person said: “He jumped over the fence near the apartment buildings back towards Kalniečių Park.” Those in the area soon responded, with another clip saying: “We have him in the park, we have him!”

After explaining he was about 20 metres in front of him, several hundred searchers rushed to the park to confront him. One Zello user revealed that once it was obvious he was recognised, he began to walk faster in order to get away, before he simply stopped and lied down, waiting for police to catch him.

One person who was involved in the chase, Paulius, said: “We heard a report that a similar person had been spotted in Kalniečių Park. Without waiting, we all got in the car and rushed towards Kalniečių Park.

“The girls there recognized him, followed him, and he started running. When we got there, we just started chasing him all over Kalniečių Park until we finally caught him.”

Dramatic video footage of the moment Mikutavičius was arrested was released on Friday (December 5), with residents of the city racing to kick and punch the man as he was being held down on the ground. Other videos show residents applauding loudly as police arrive to finally detain the man.

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