A murderer has been jailed for life for stabbing his wife to death in a ‘savage and frenzied attack’ using hammers and a screwdriver before he turned on a child.

Andriejus Kostiajevas, 47, bludgeoned Ligita Kostiajeviene, 42, with the hammer, breaking her skull, before stabbing her until she died in their bedroom at home in Peterborough on July 2. While fleeing, he turned the knife on a boy, nine, who also lived at the house, stabbing him nine times.

Police body camera footage captured the moment armed officers arrested the blood-splattered killer where they found him hiding in his garden shed after the attack. With blood on his hands and the sleeves of his grey hoodie, Kostiajevas refused to come down from the shed’s rafters, telling police: ‘I will sit here.’

The killer climbed down after an hour standoff and has now been convicted of murder and jailed for a minimum of 28 years. Sentencing him at Cambridge Crown Court, Mrs Justice Lambert said Kostiajevas had killed his wife of two decades after years of ‘violence and humiliation’.

The trial heard how Kostiajevas was caught attacking his wife by a woman in her 30s who was living at the same house. She entered the bedroom after hearing the couple arguing.

When she saw Kostiajevas was holding a knife, the woman tried to persuade him to put it down but he ignored her plea and stabbed Ligita, before chasing the woman out of the room.

A boy who was also living in the house was woken up by the commotion and was stabbed by the killer when he went to see what was happening. The child needed surgery to repair nerve damage and now has only limited use of his left hand.

Officers followed a trail of blood at the home and found Kostiajevas hiding in the shed. Paramedics battled to save Ligita but she died at the scene.

Two hammers were recovered from the property, one of which had Ligita’s hair attached to it. A post-mortem examination revealed she died as a result of a severe head injury caused by multiple blows.

While being transported to Addenbrooke Hospital for treatment for a cut to his hand, Kostiajevas kicked a police officer in the face.

He denied charges of murder, attempted murder, and assault on an emergency worker but was found guilty on Tuesday.

Sentencing him on Wednesday, the judge said she had heard evidence ‘concerning the violence and humiliation which you visited upon Ligita’ during their 20 years of marriage. Prosecutors said the murder was ‘a culmination of what had come before’.

It was her ‘conservative estimate’ that Ligita had been stabbed more than 30 times, the judge said.

‘However long her ordeal, it is impossible to imagine the sheer terror as well as the physical pain which you must have inflicted upon your wife,’ Mrs Justice Lambert said.

Ligita, who leaves behind an adult daughter, has been described as a loving and caring mother who will be missed more than words can say.

Superintendent Michael Branston said: ‘This was a brutal, frenzied and sustained attack resulting in the death of an innocent woman and significant trauma to a young child.

‘Our deepest sympathies go out to Ligita’s family. I hope today’s verdict will provide them with some assistance as they learn to live with this tragedy.’

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