Jury rules convicted Shropshire murderer killed second man
A Shrewsbury man serving a life sentence for killing a pensioner found dead in Shropshire in 1994 also committed another killing in the same year, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court ruled today.
The jurors returned a unanimous verdict that Robin Stanislaw Ligus was responsible for the murder of Trevor Bradley, who was found dead in a burnt-out car near Melverley.
The court heard that Ligus had hit Mr Bradley on the head before setting fire to his car in Melverley in April 1994.
They jury are still considering two other counts of murder against Ligus.
Robin Stanislaw Ligus watched via video-link after being judged mentally unfit to take part in his trial.
Due to the mental state of the 59-year-old, jurors have been instructed to rule on whether the father-of-three did the acts alleged against him, rather than being required to return verdicts of guilty or not guilty.
The jurors asked for more time to consider the remaining two counts, which relate to the deaths of Brian Coles and Bernard Czyzewska. Both were murdered in October and November 1994 in Shropshire. They were told that majority verdicts would now be acceptable to the court.
At the opening of the month-long trial, it was alleged that Ligus, then living in Middletown Square, Shrewsbury, was using heroin and cocaine and had committed the crimes to obtain money for his drug addiction.
Mr Coles is alleged to have been killed during the course of a burglary at his home, while the Crown claims Mr Czyzewska drowned after being thrown into the Severn from a bridge in Shrewsbury.
