Prison sentence takes effect for former police general Šulte over hunting death of businessman

The Supreme Court has refused to initiate cassation proceedings regarding the Latgale Regional Court ruling in the criminal case of Juris Šulte, former head of the State Police Riga Region Administration, news agency LETA reports. This means the regional court's verdict is now final: Šulte was found guilty of homicide committed with indirect intent and sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

The Supreme Court stated that part of the defense's cassation complaint sought a re-evaluation of evidence already assessed by the lower courts, while the remaining arguments failed to sufficiently explain how an alleged misapplication of legal norms affected the lawfulness of the verdict. The court noted that the regional court had carefully examined the defense's ricochet theory and, based on expert findings, deemed it unlikely. It was also established that Šulte knowingly aimed his weapon toward a hunting tower where he knew a person was present and fired, thereby allowing for the possibility of death. His false testimony about the circumstances of the shooting was treated as an aggravating factor.

Sequence of events

The tragedy occurred during a hunt in late November 2022 in Stopiņi parish. Initially the death was thought to be of natural causes, but a forensic medical examiner later found signs of violent death, prompting the Internal Security Bureau to take over the investigation. It was determined that Šulte fired his hunting weapon in the direction of another hunter, and the shot proved fatal. The victim was businessman Jānis Garkalns, co-owner of security company "Alabais" and security systems firm "Shield Security Group". After the hunt, Šulte informed his superiors of his decision to retire.

Compensation for victims

In April this year, the Riga District Court initially awarded the victim's family members compensation totaling 86,000 euros. Reviewing the appeal in March, the Latgale Regional Court upheld the guilty verdict and sentence but reduced the moral damage compensation to 25,000 and 22,500 euros respectively.