A Falesti man who stood trial on charges of domestic violence, premeditated murder, attempted murder and intentional damage to property has been acquitted on three of the four counts, being sentenced only for domestic violence to 13 months in prison.
The sentence counts in the period spent by the defendant in pre-trial detention, so the court ordered the immediate release of the 38-year-old man. The prosecutors appealed.
In a press release, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) recalled that the case occurred in March 2012, when the man learned that his female partner decided to break up and have an abortion. In reaction, he opened the valve of a gas cylinder in the kitchen of the shared house, as the partner and her mother were inside. When the women tried to escape, the man knocked them down and lighted a match.
In the ensuing explosion, the woman, 34 at that time, suffered burns on 25% of her body and lived only due to medical assistance. Her mother, 61, suffered critical burns and died shortly in hospital. The house, which was owned by the victims, burned to ruins.
The prosecutors found the acquittal decision by the Balti Court to be 'blatantly illegal' and appealed it, asking for a 25 years' imprisonment sentence together with damages for the surviving victim.
