CCTV footage captured the moment a killer walked with an ‘incredible mother’ to her flat before stabbing her to death.
Birute Klicneliene, 51, stabbed Dace Kalkerte, 50, 16 times in her first-floor flat in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, on April 15 last year.
Dace, who also sustained nine other wounds, died at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital the following day at 2:28am.
Norwich Crown Court sentenced Klicneliene to jail for life with a minimum term of 18 years behind bars today.
Surveillance footage showed the pair chatting as they walked through a park towards Dace’s home only hours before the frenzied murder.
They had met one another earlier that day while drinking at an allotment in town with their partners.
Klicneliene and Dace took off from the allotment, leaving their partners behind, the court heard.
Police were called to Klicneliene’s flat at around 12:30pm and found Dace bleeding and not breathing.
A Home Office post-mortem later established Dace suffered 16 stab and puncture wounds and nine incised wounds, including defensive injuries to her right hand.
She had died from a single stab wound to her stomach.
Dace’s daughter had been at home at the time of the murder and found her mother covered in blood, the court was told last year.
Reading a statement from Dace’s partner to the court, prosecutor Andrew Jackson said: ‘His hope is that she will recover and in due course be able to lead a full life, and he says his whole world has changed forever.
‘The statement makes clear that Dace was an incredible mother. They have lost her in the most horrific and cruel way.’
When questioned later by police, Klicneliene denied murdering Dace and claimed she had fallen asleep when they returned to her flat.
She told officers that she thought Dace was drunk when she found her lying on the floor when she woke up.
A man, she alleged, had stabbed Dace. Police found no evidence of this unidentified person or of any signs of forced entry into Dace’s flat.
Klicneliene’s clothing when police arrived was drenched in blood – her hands, however, were clean.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Burgess said: ‘Klicneliene used a knife to murder Dace – a woman she had met only a few hours’ earlier and who had invited her into her home – in a sustained and brutal attack.
‘She has always denied murdering Dace and we may never know why she inflicted such deliberate and directed violence, but it has no place in our society.
‘Mercifully, incidents like this are rare in Norfolk and today, my thoughts remain with Dace’s family who continue to grieve their loss; they have shown incredible bravery throughout this ordeal and I thank them for their support at this very difficult time.
‘We will continue to support them for as long as they need us.’
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