It was established that A. Bero’s condition has not worsened, therefore, there is no reason to apply conditions of stricter observation by transferring him to a treatment facility. The prosecutor’s office also agreed to leave the mildest, outpatient conditions.
A. Beras, who was declared innocent after the double murder and was treated for a long time at the Rokiškis psychiatric hospital, currently lives in a nursing home in the Jonava district – he is placed there, receives the necessary medication, and regularly visits doctors.
A notorious patient can go outside their care facility without an official escort. After a long time, the child killer had the opportunity to purchase alcohol without any obstacles – he committed the heinous crime precisely after developing alcohol-induced psychosis.
Former people from A. Bero’s environment, who asked not to be named publicly, claimed to the portal lrytas.lt that they feel unsafe in such a situation. They learned about the return of the man nicknamed the monster by the Savians to the neighboring district only 8 months after the decision to release him from the psychiatric hospital – no one from the institutions informed them about it in advance.
Based on the opinion of the medical commission, the Kaunas District Court recognized that it would be inappropriate to stop the forced treatment of A. Ber at the moment: his condition is not yet sufficiently stable, he lacks self-criticism, and he has not fully recovered.
The submission regarding the extension of the coercive medical measure was presented to the court by the Integral Medical Center, which provides outpatient mental health care services to A. Ber.
The next hearing on the conditions of forced treatment will take place in half a year. They can be replaced if the condition worsens.
However, if Mr. Ber were to recover completely, he would not be transferred to prison because he did not realize his actions at the time of the crime and for this reason cannot be tried.
At night, they threw the babies into the well
Both babies were killed on the night of January 2, 2016 – A. Beras, who was abusing alcohol, threw his 2-year-old son and 4-month-old daughter into a well on his personal property in the village of Savečiai, before brutally beating his then-partner Lina Cvilikaitė, stabbing her in the back with a fork.
The two oldest children of A. Bero and L. Cvilikaitė are still alive and are currently living with guardians.
A. Beras found himself in the hands of psychiatrists in the same month, having started behaving inappropriately in the cell, and in November 2016, the Kaunas District Court, based on the expert’s findings, recognized A. Beras as innocent and ordered him to undergo forced treatment under conditions of strict observation.
Later, the conditions softened: from strict – to enhanced, from enhanced – to general monitoring, until finally, in the fall of 2023, the Rokiškis court decided in October to release him from the treatment facility altogether: it is stated that once the condition has improved, the child killer can already be monitored in outpatient conditions.
Tragedy has already passed once
But for once, the tragedy has already been averted. The now former neighbor of A. Ber’s family from Savečiai immediately after the murder was surprised by the inaction of the responsible institutions – according to her, the man was constantly drinking, behaved aggressively, brutally beat his then life partner L. Cvilikaitė, did not allow her to watch TV, made sure that she did not run away from home, forcing her to sleep on a dirty mattress in the kitchen, he cut off the head of the bitch with an ax.
L. Cvilikaitė herself probably did not dare to complain to the services.
“Even before the crime, I called the defenders of children’s rights, I said, look at those children – nothing good will happen here, and they told me that they don’t see anything bad,” the neighbor complained.
The community was outraged
It was decided to release A. Bera from the hospital for the first time and treat him in outpatient conditions at the Rokiškis courthouse as early as November 2022, but the child killer’s sister, who initially agreed to accept him into her home in Jonava Paradise, changed her mind. After these circumstances changed, the Panevėžys district court annulled the ruling of the Rokiškis court soon after.
Jonava municipality, the local community and the Panevėžys prosecutor’s office categorically objected to the release of the murderer, stating in their complaint to the higher instance court that the criteria of social danger were not taken into account.
Prosecutors were convinced that the treatment should continue under the conditions of inpatient and not outpatient observation. At that time, the Rokiškis court’s move caused a great stir in the local community: people did not hide their concern for their safety, and especially for the safety of the two older children of A. Ber.
According to them, when deciding to release A. Bera, many important factors were not taken into account, which could become a time bomb and cause very serious consequences when he returns to freedom: the most important of them is the availability of the cup.
Placed in a foster home
Last year, the situation changed fundamentally. In September 2023, the Rokiškis Court Chamber decided to accept the request of the Rokiškis Psychiatric Hospital to change the coercive medical measures imposed on A. Ber: instead of inpatient treatment under conditions of general observation, to apply ambulatory observation, as the patient’s condition has reportedly improved and is stable for a year and a half.
The prosecutor’s office did not appeal the court order this time. The man nicknamed the savage by the Savians was quietly placed in the private Paupios care home located in the Jonava district, Rukla town. This public institution provides care and nursing services, helping the disabled to integrate into society.
A. Beras must regularly visit psychiatrists at the appointed time, who may recommend returning him to the hospital if his condition worsens.
Evelina Pekienė, deputy director of the Paupios care home for social affairs, confirmed to the news portal lrytas.lt that A. Beras is housed in this facility.
After A. Bera’s transfer from the psychiatric hospital, his living conditions have completely changed – he can move freely without any restrictions.
A man goes to develop work skills in Karmėlava without the escort of officials, he can visit the town of Rukla and other areas independently, without any restrictions and accompanied by representatives of responsible institutions.
True, he goes to Karmėlava’s workshop and back to Rukla, accompanied by social workers. However, at other times he has the opportunity to freely purchase alcoholic beverages and visit public places.
According to E. Pekienė, long-term social care services are applied to A. Ber. He does not seem to pose a threat.
Alcohol is easily available
It is believed that care, medicines, unavailability of alcohol inside the institution and other factors will prevent the recurrence of the terrible aggression in which A. Beras Saviečiai threw two young children into a well on his property.
However, the fact remains that intoxicants are now easily accessible to him: if he wanted to, he could purchase them without hindrance while outside the care facility. It was the abuse of alcohol that caused A. Beru’s alcoholic psychosis, which, as the courts in the double murder case recognized, had a significant influence on this terrible step.
It is true that it is claimed that until now A. Beras was not seen intoxicated or simply “in a bad mood” in the care home. No complaints have yet been received from residents of Rukla or the surrounding areas regarding his behavior.
2024-09-06 14:47:18