Riga - Latvian police said Thursday they had arrested three men, including two medics, as part of an investigation into a murder ring. According to the Baltic News Service, police chief Andrejs Grisins said a paramedic, a medical student and a third individual were being held on suspicion of murdering an acquaintance and then planning to murder more individuals selling luxury cars.
The three suspects are aged between 20 and 23, Grisins said. In April they were believed to have lured their unnamed victim, who they thought was wealthy, to an apartment and strangled him before disposing of his body in a forest and burning it.
All they gained from the killing was a mobile phone and a small amount of cash, police said.
Next, the murder gang hatched a plan to kill the boss of their first victim, but changed their minds and decided to target sellers of expensive cars, planning to kill the owners, steal any money available and sell the cars for scrap metal, Grisins said.
Police learned about the plan and said the suspects had arranged to meet the seller of a BMW after equipping themselves with knives, rope, rubber gloves and detergent for removing bloodstains.
Police arrested them before the could carry out their plan. All three suspects are being held in police custody.
