The third department of the RF Investigative Committee’s Directorate (based in the city of Nizhny Novgorod) has finished investigative operations into the robbery and attempted murder of chief of Otradny Police Department Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Vashurkin and murder of his wife. Depending on the role of each one, Vitaly Yarankin, Andrei Permyakov, Daniil Yeltyshev and Ernst Yatsunenko were charged with robbery under Part 4, item “c” of Article 162, murder and attempted murder under Part 2, item “j” of Article 105, part 3 of Article 30 and Part 2, items “g” and “j” of Article 105, stealing of a passport or other important personal document under part 2 of Article 325 of the RF Penal Code.

According to investigators, on the night of 11 December 2016, Yarankin, Yatsunenko, Yeltyshev and Permyakov saw a golden chain on Dmitry Vashurkin’s neck in a shop in Samara and decided to rob him. They followed the victims to their house, got inside and attacked the couple demanding jewelry and money. They hit their victims multiple times. When they got hold of plunder worth a little over 41 thousand rubles and discovered the police badge, Yarankin decided to kill the victims. He took an ax and hacked Vashurkin and his wife. The chief of police passed out, while his wife died at the scene.

In addition, Kristina Chistyakova, 24, is charged with concealment of the said major crimes under Article 316 of the RF Penal Code.

During an initial probe the investigators checked all possible versions of the crime and the robbery-related murder was proved to be true.

Within 5 days after the crime the investigators together with operative agents of the Samara Region Office of the Federal Security Service and Directorate of the Interior Ministry managed to identify and detain all the persons involved in the crime, find out the circumstances surrounding the murder, restore the events that happened before and after the crime, find stashes of the plunder. In less than 3 months the members of the investigative team conducted more than 400 interrogations, 130 raids and seizures, 30 examinations of the crime scene, objects and documents, 60 forensic DNA< dactylographic, medical and other examinations.

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

Official spokesperson for the RF Investigative Committee                                                                    S.L. Petrenko