Aldina Lakota and Serbia’s most notorious female murder cases
Retrial ordered in the case of Aldina Lakota, whose original life sentence for the 28 May 2024 killing in Dubnica was annulled in March 2026.
A high-profile violent crime and several other notorious female-perpetrated murders in Serbia are being revisited as courts and public opinion weigh sentences and appeals.
The case that attracted the most recent attention involves Aldina Lakota (40), who was originally convicted of killing her former mother‑in‑law, Bajra Lakota, and sentenced to life imprisonment; that verdict was overturned by the Appellate Court in Kragujevac in March 2026 and a retrial was ordered by the Higher Court in Novi Pazar.
Details of the Novi Pazar case
According to the indictment filed by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Pazar, the killing took place on 28 May 2024 at the family home in the village of Dubnica near Sjenica. Investigators say Lakota entered the house during the husband’s absence and attacked Bajra Lakota with two knives, inflicting about 120 stab wounds — roughly 50 of them to the head and neck — and that the victim died at the scene.
Lakota denied responsibility during trial, telling the court: "I did not kill Bajra. I had good relations with her and her husband, I have no motive for that crime. My partner did it." The Higher Court in Novi Pazar found her guilty in December 2025 and imposed a life sentence, but the sentence was later annulled.
The article summarises other notable cases of severe sentences imposed on women in Serbia: Jelena Špagović was sentenced to 30 years for the 2019 murder of 80‑year‑old Majda Garović over an unpaid debt; the 2005 rape and murder of three‑year‑old Katarina Janković led to 40‑year terms for both the perpetrator Mališa Jevtović and the child’s mother Ana Filipović; Jasmina Cvetković (known as “Crna Jasmina”) received a combined total of 13 years for two killings spanning 2000 and 2014; Maja Badžikić was sentenced to 40 years in April 2022 for a quadruple murder near Jabukovac; actress Teodora Viktorović was given 30 years in October 2017 for killing her mother and grandmother in March 2015; and Olivera Krsmanić, originally given 40 years for a 2005 taxi driver murder, had her sentence later reduced and was released after serving almost 15 years.
Photo: press material from the event
