Kaunas- A judge was shot dead in Lithuania Monday in a professional-style "hit" that bears the hallmarks of a contract killing, Lithuanian national radio reported. Regional court Judge Jonas Furmanavicius, 47, was gunned down at 8:30 am (0530 GMT) on Sladkevicius Street in the centre of Lithuania's second-largest city, Kaunas.
Police said Furmanavicius was shot three times in the body and once in the head after he climbed out of his Mercedes car. Police appealed to the public for help in tracing a white Volkswagen van seen fleeing the scene of the crime.
Police Deputy Commissioner Visvaldas Rackauskas told Lithuanian radio that Furmanavicius' list of forthcoming cases would be examined in the search for a motive.
"(Furmanavicius was) working as a judge in criminal cases involving serious crimes and therefore we do not exclude the possibility that he was murdered in connection with activities relating to criminal proceedings," said Rackauskas.
Other areas of enquiry centre on unsubstantiated allegations by Kaunas resident Drasius Kedys that Furmanavicius had sexually assaulted his daughter, local media said.
Kaunas is known for being the base of the Daktaras Gang, a notorious criminal clan with a reputation for violence.
The head of the Daktarais gang, Henrikas Daktaras, was arrested in Bulgaria in September after going on the run in February.
Judge Furmanavicius had presided over the trial on drug smuggling charges of Daktaras' son, Enrikas.
