Boris Dekanidze was born on 13 December 1962 in Vilnius, the capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, to Georgian Jewish immigrant parents. Despite being born in Lithuania, Dekanidze held no citizenship in either Lithuania or Georgia, officially making him stateless.

As he grew up, Dekanidze rose through the ranks of the criminal underworld during the chaotic post-Soviet years. He eventually became the head of the Vilnius Brigade, one of the most notorious organized crime groups operating in Lithuania in the early 1990s. The group was diverse in its makeup, including Soviet Jews, Russians, Poles, and Lithuanians, but was largely structured along criminal loyalty rather than ethnic lines. Boris’s younger brother was also reportedly involved in the organization.

The Vilnius Brigade was known for its involvement in extortion, trafficking, arms, and protection rackets. It wielded considerable power in the capital, and its members were feared and difficult for law enforcement to penetrate. Dekanidze operated from the top, rarely getting directly involved in violence but allegedly orchestrating numerous criminal operations behind the scenes.

In 1993, respected investigative journalist Vitas Lingys, co-founder and publisher of the newspaper Respublika, had been publishing articles critical of organized crime in Lithuania — particularly the Vilnius Brigade and its leader, Boris Dekanidze. Lingys received multiple death threats, but he continued his reporting.

One evening, Lingys was shot at point-blank range near his home in Vilnius. The murder shocked the nation and drew massive media and government attention. The killing was viewed not only as a murder but as a direct assault on press freedom in the newly independent Lithuania.

Authorities quickly identified the killing as a contract hit and eventually arrested Dekanidze, along with the suspected triggerman, Igor Akhremov, a known hitman working for the Vilnius Brigade. According to testimony, Akhremov confessed that he killed Lingys on Dekanidze’s orders. Dekanidze denied involvement throughout the investigation, insisting that he was innocent and being scapegoated.

The case went to trial in 1994. Despite a lack of physical evidence directly linking Dekanidze to the crime, the testimony from Akhremov and circumstantial evidence convinced a three-judge panel to convict him. On 10 November 1994, Dekanidze was sentenced to death, and Akhremov received life imprisonment.

The day after the sentencing, a terrorist threat was made against a Lithuanian nuclear power plant, a move believed to be connected to the high-profile conviction. This event underscored the dangerous reach of organized crime in the country and heightened public anxiety.

Dekanidze appealed his sentence to the Lithuanian Supreme Court, but in February 1995, the court upheld the original verdict, finding no basis to overturn or retry the case. A final appeal for clemency was sent to President Algirdas Brazauskas, who denied the request.

On 12 July 1995, Boris Dekanidze was executed by a single gunshot to the back of the head at Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius.