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In Sverdlovsk Region, thorough work of Investigative Committee and police officers resulted in detention of murder suspect of two girls on Uktus Mountain

The Sverdlovsk Regional Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia continues the investigation into an offense under Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of Russia (murder of two persons) with reference to two girls discovered bearing gunshot wounds on a training slope of Uktus Mountain Ski Sports Complex on Zimnyaya Street in the morning of August 26, 2018. One of the victims died at the scene, the other one subsequently died in a hospital. According to investigative data, the offense was committed late on August 25, 2018.

Taking into account that the crime was non-obvious and committed without direct witnesses, it could not be solved on hot pursuit despite the arranged complex of initial investigative activities. However, regional law enforcement bodies continued the thorough and meticulous work on the identification of the suspect.

A group of the most experienced investigators and forensic experts of the Sverdlovsk Regional Investigations Directorate with participation of officers of the Main Forensics Directorate of the Investigative Committee and operative officers of the Main Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Sverdlovsk Regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Yekaterinburg Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was formed to ensure the effective and high-quality investigation.

The investigation of this high-impact probe is personally supervised by the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

During the preliminary investigation, officers of the Investigative Committee and the criminal investigation police department carried out a tremendous amount of work aimed at establishing all circumstances of the girls’ murder, solving the crime, as well as identifying and detaining the suspect. Investigators questioned about 2,000 persons, carried out over 300 different examinations (including forensic, DNA, ballistic, information analysis, video technical, and chemical ones). At present, the criminal case comprises over 100 volumes.

As a natural result of the systematic thorough work of the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on December 9, 2019, a person suspected of committing the offense, a 34-year old Yekaterinburg citizen employed as an engineer in a local enterprise, has been detained. Subsequently, during a search in the suspect’s apartment, officers of the Investigative Committee of Russia have discovered numerous weapon parts including components of an air gun that could have been used for committing the offense.

The irrefutable evidence gathered during the investigation and a psychological and physiological examination carried out by an expert of the Forensics Department of the regional directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia using a polygraph machine have enabled investigators to obtain the testimony of the girls’ murder circumstances from the suspect. In the nearest future, the suspect will be charged under Paragraph A of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of Russia (murder of two persons). Apart from that, the investigation intends to motion the court to keep the detainee in custody. Further measures for proving evidence are in progress. The suspect’s testimony on the motive of the crime and other circumstances of the murder are being thoroughly verified during investigative actions. The man will be also subjected to a forensic examination in order to check his sanity and the possibility of mental illnesses.

Video of investigative activities