Life Sentence for 'Depraved' Murder of Sleeping Family Friend
A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years for what a senior judge described as a murder of 'almost unimaginable depravity' against a family friend as she slept.
Ernestas Juska murdered his mother's 39-year-old friend, Nina Denisova, in August 2024 at his mother's house in Dartford, Kent, after consuming cocaine and alcohol during an evening of socialising.
Violent Pornography Had 'Extreme Impact'
Maidstone Crown Court heard on Friday 28th November 2025 how medical experts concluded that Juska's consumption of violent pornography had an 'extreme impact' on him.
Mr Justice Dexter Dias KC stated it 'cannot be a coincidence' that the defendant wanted to try having sex with a corpse after viewing material that included dead bodies, rape and bestiality.
The sentencing judge imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 26 years, minus time already spent on remand.
The Attack and Aftermath
The court heard how Juska had spent the evening with his mother and family friends, including Ms Denisova. After his mother criticised him for being unemployed and Ms Denisova had gone to bed, Juska made his decision.
'He decided he wanted to kill someone,' Mr Justice Dias said. 'He thought through his options, he did not want to kill his mother or sister, and he knew Ms Denisova was in the house and asleep.'
Between 5.30am and 6am, Juska took the 'biggest knife he could find' from the kitchen and went upstairs to where Ms Denisova was sleeping.
Prosecutor Danny Moore KC described how Juska stabbed her in the neck, and when she didn't die immediately and began to struggle, he put his hands over her mouth before stabbing her through both eyes. He then stabbed her in the belly and chest.
Juska later told police he 'didn't feel anything' during the final attack. After the murder, he committed sexual offences on her body.
Following the killing, Juska left the family home and walked to a nearby bus stop, where he asked a member of the public to call police, confessing he had just killed someone.
Victim Remembered as 'Calm and Positive'
Ms Denisova, who arrived in the UK from Lithuania in 2006, was described by her brother in a victim impact statement read to the court as a 'very calm and positive person' who loved giving gifts.
'We can never forgive him for what he's done,' her brother wrote, 'and we will never be able to understand why he did what he did that sad day.'
Both her brother and father attended the two-day sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court.
Concurrent Sentence for Additional Offence
In addition to the murder sentence, Juska received a two-year concurrent sentence for sexual penetration of a corpse.
Mr Justice Dias concluded: 'I have no doubt that the last moments of Nina Denisova's life were lived in extreme, unexpected and undeserved horror.'
The judge agreed with Kent Police's assessment that this was a murder involving 'acts of almost unimaginable depravity'.
