The Courier has received a twisted hand-written letter from one of the most notorious murderers to ever set foot in Tayside.
Murderer Vitas Plytnykas, 48, has blamed his victim Jolanta Bledaite for the fact he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
In the rambling 14-page letter he claims that Jolanta is the “guiltiest person in this situation” because she stole his bank card in the weeks before she was killed.
Plytnykas and his friend Aleksandras Skirda suffocated and dismembered Jolanta in her flat before dumping her mutilated body in the sea in March 2008.
Her head and hands were found by children playing at Arbroath beach.
Claims that Jolanta, 35, stole a bank card were not raised during a jury trial at Edinburgh High Court in 2009.
Plytnykas now states that the jury believed “false evidence” and “didn’t find all the details” in the letter, which has been translated from Lithuanian.
He said he now wanted “everyone to know the real story of that crime”.
Plytnykas said his bank card went missing during the start of 2008 and that when his girlfriend went to cancel the Lloyds card she was informed that it had been used for shopping and withdrawing money.
Plytnykas said he “suspected Jolanta from the beginning” because he had heard that she used to work as a prostitute in Moscow.
He also claimed that he knew that “our dead hero” Jolanta had sex with men and then accused them of raping her. He states that she would ask for money or she would go to the police.
“She used to stay in the same flat as Aleksandras Skirda and I asked him to leave me keys from the flat,” he wrote.
“After a few hours of searching in Jolanta’s flat I found my bank card underneath the carpet. There was not only my bank card but also others which I threw away.”
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Jolanta was targeted by the pair because it was believed she had saved up a lot of money.
Plytnykas taped her hands, legs and mouth while they looked for Jolanta’s bank cards. They then threatened to kill her if she didn’t reveal the PIN numbers.
Skirda said that Plytnykas put a pillow over her face while he held her legs. They then carried her to the bathroom and began the macabre process of cutting off her head and hands.
However, Plytnykas now states that the murder wasn’t planned and that Skirda did not see Jolanta die.
“Nobody planned to kill and rob her at all. This was never a planned crime,” the letter continued.
“This was lies that Aleksandras Skirda said. He blamed me in all things that he made and even in things that never happened.
“He said his version of the crime but his thoughts are not the real facts. He said that most of the things were done by me.
“Aleksandras never even saw the death of Jolanta. Because of Skirda’s lies and because your police refused to help me I never appealed the verdict of the court.
“I never even thought that the court would believe in all these lies that Skirda said. For court the most important goal was to put someone in to the jail and show to the society that monsters will now serve in the jail till they die.”
Plytnykas doesn’t deny killing Jolanta but states that the life sentence imposed was “too much”.
“Jolanta is the guiltiest person in all this situation,” he states. “Because of Jolanta’s fault now I will stay all my life in prison.”
With the letter, The Courier received a card signed Vitas, with a message stating Merry Christmas and New Year.