Bilston murder trial: Man 'killed friend in drunken rage'
Deniss Buzmakovs suffered up to 60 injuries while being battered with a broken chair leg
A father of two was bludgeoned to death in a drunken rage by a friend who had known him for years, a jury heard.
Deniss Buzmakovs, aged 42, suffered up to 60 injuries while being battered with a broken chair leg, kicked and punched by Aleksejs Lusnikovs, also 42, at the latter’s home in Beckett Street, Bilston, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
“The brutality of the prolonged attack suggests the defendant was in a rage, probably as a result of intoxication,” said Mr Christopher Millington QC, prosecuting.
A rusty screw from the broken chair leg was found embedded in the wall ‘giving some indication of the force used,’ continued the prosecutor.
The victim suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured skull and fractured ribs, the court heard.
None of the 60 ‘sites of injury’ resulted from him trying to defend himself which implied he had probably been unconscious and defenceless from an early stage, maintained Mr Millington.
The two friends were ‘drinking partners’ and the victim arrived at the address at around 2pm, over six hours after the defendant had started downing spirits on Sunday September 9, it was said.
Minutes earlier Lusnikovs had assaulted two other men, with whom he had been drinking earlier in the day, as they prepared to leave because he was becoming increasingly aggressive and had to be disarmed after grabbing a knife, said the prosecutor.
At that moment Mr Buzmakovs turned up and went inside where he was alone with him.
The victim, who lived in nearby Hatherton Road with his partner of 17 years and their children aged 10 and 15, came from Latvia and was a heavy drinker like the defendant, it was said.
Lusnikovs rang the police and told them: ‘Dead body here,’ the jury heard.
He claimed to have woken up to find his friend’s body but insisted he had drunk so much he could not remember what had happened.
The defendant allegedly later said he recalled taking a ‘big swing’ at the victim.
Lusnikovs denies murder and the case continues.
