News

The Kemerovo Region Office of the Investigative Committee has finished the investigation against a 34-year-old resident of the town of Prokopyevsk, charged with crimes under Part 2, items “a”, “c”, “e”, “f” and “h” of Article 105, Part 3 of Article 30, Part 2, items “a”, “e” and “f” of Article 105, Part 2 of Article 167 of the RF Penal Code (murder of two or more people, attempted murder of two or more people, committed by a generally dangerous way with special cruelty, deliberate destruction of property by arson).

According to investigators, in May 2005, the accused did not want to own two children or pay alimony and decided to kill them. On the night of 10 May, aware that the woman and children were inside, the man poured petrol onto their house and set it on fire. To cut off any escape, he poured the doors and the surround area with petrol too. When the fire started, the perpetrator fled the scene. However, the woman managed to get out the house through a window and took with her 50-year-old mother and children aged 8 and 18 months. By that time rescuers of Emergency Ministry and EMS had already arrived. The victims were taken to hospital in grave condition with multiple burns. Unfortunately the older woman and the children died of pain shock. The 27-year-old woman was in coma for several months which according to doctors helped her survive.

Despite the steps taken to investigate the fire, no data indicating man’s involvement in the crime was obtained at the time, but the investigation continued for years and in spring of 2015 well planned investigative and search operations helped to find people who knew about the circumstances of the 10-year-old crime. The investigators managed to get hard evidence that the man had set the house on fire. About 20 different forensic inquiries have been run and more than 100 witnesses questioned during the probe. A court has ruled to place the accused in custody pending trial. It should be mentioned, that he still denies the guilt, has obstructed the investigation in every possible way, has charged some 20 lawyers and put pressure on the survived victim.

The investigators now have enough evidence so the criminal case with the approved indictment has been referred to court.