Top attorney found dead in home

  • 2014-06-16
  • From wire reports, RIGA

Andris Grutups was also a best selling author (photo: delfi,lv)

One of Latvia's most famous attorneys and best selling authors Andris Grutups has been found dead in his home.

Latvian police were called to the lawyers home on June 15 after receiving a call of a shooting. It's believed the lawyer may have committed suicide, police say.

The death of Andris Grutups' will be fully investigated, Criminal Police Office Chief Girts Mundurs told the LETA news agency.

Early signs indicate that Grutups was alone in his apartment whilst the gun found at the scene belonged to Grutups.
Mundurs refused to reveal the contents of the suicide note found near the body.

The well-know attorney was an important and unique personality in Latvia's judicial system, said deputy-chair of the Latvian Council of Lawyers Guna Kaminska said.

Kaminska said that Grutups was a successful individual in his professional career and his social activity during the days of the Popular Front of Latvia movement, as well as in regard to his tenure as a Supreme Council [pre-Saeima] deputy and membership on the Committee of Brethren Cemetery.

She added that Grutups was the co-author of many laws and regulations that allowed those people, whose property was denationalized, to see justice. Kaminska also said that Grutups had contributed textbooks about regulations of civil liability, and much more pertaining to his profession.

He authored revealing books about the KGB ("Beilisade"), the Riga mass murderer ("Maniaks") and the legal system in Latvia ("The Court-case Kitchen"). All were best sellers.

Kaminska recalled that Grutups was the recipient of a number of awards, including the state's highest honor - the Order of the Three Stars.