A WORLE man who strangled and sexually assaulted a Lithuanian maid before dumping her body against a garage door has been convicted of murder.

James Citro, of Lyddon Road, has today (Mon) been found guilty of killing Nijole Siskeviciene in London in 1998.

His conviction came at the end of a 13-year investigation, during which Citro had tried to throw detectives off his scent by faking letters from ‘witnesses’ which provided false information about the crime.

The Old Bailey heard this week how Ms Siskeviciene’s body was found in 200 yards from her Wembley home

Injuries showed she had been restrained by the wrists and throat, while forensic evidence also showed the attack had been sexually motivated.

She was killed just 12 months after coming to the UK with her two sons.

Eight days after her body was found, police received two anonymous handwritten notes claiming to have seen two black men carrying Ms Siskeviciene from her home.

The ‘witnesses’ claimed to be too old and frightened to give their names, but the evidence was accepted as credible by police investigators, and part of their inquiry was spent trying to track them down.

Officers were frustrated in their attempts to find either witnesses or the killer for more than a decade.

However, when Citro was arrested in Somerset in 2010 for an unrelated offence, his fingerprints and DNA were taken.

This resulted in a DNA match on a partial sample taken from Ms Siskeviciene’s body, while Citro’s fingerprints also matched those found on the ‘witness’ letters.

In January this year, he was finally charged with murder – and the 54-year-old will now be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 9.

In the wake of the verdict, Detective Superintendent Keith Niven said: “Nijole came to the UK in search of a better life for herself and her sons, (but) had only lived in Lancelot Road Wembley for six days when she fell victim to Citro’s violence.

“He was a neighbour living but a few doors away from her.

“Citro has now been convicted of murder and is no longer at liberty to commit any further offences.

“Although this brings little comfort for their loss, Nijole’s sons are reassured that justice has been secured for their mother, and that Citro will not be able to subject any other victims and their families to the pain and suffering they have endured.”

* Police are appealing for any other people who have been assaulted by James Citro to contact them on 020 87334603.