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In the Republic of Crimea, stepfather was convicted of the murder of his five-year-old stepdaughter

Based on evidence collected by the Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea issued a guilty verdict to a citizen of Ukraine who lived in the village of Kropotkino, Razdolnensky District. He was found guilty of the murder of his young stepdaughter.  

On November 13, 2019, law enforcement agencies received a message from a resident of the village of Kropotkino about the disappearance of his 5-year-old stepdaughter. The man explained that he left home on business with his youngest son, leaving his daughter alone at home. Their mother at that time was working abroad. As he assured, when he returned home, the door was open, there were no signs of burglary, and the girl was not at home.  Experienced investigators, forensic investigators, experts of the Main Investigation Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol immediately went to the scene of the incident. In cooperation with colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, several events were organized to quickly establish the circumstances of the child's disappearance. Various leads were pursued. Volunteers of search-and-rescue group Lisa Alert Crimea, volunteers from different regions and concerned citizens of the peninsula provided great assistance in search activities to law enforcement bodies. During a polygraph test, an expert of the Forensics Directorate of the Main Investigation Directorate established the involvement of her stepfather in the disappearance of the girl. And during further interrogation, he confessed to the investigators in the murder of the child. At the site, the man pointed to a specific point where he hid the girl's body. There it was discovered during the investigation.

The investigation and the court found that the stepfather drowned his stepdaughter while bathing in the bathroom. On the afternoon of November 12, 2019, the man took the child's body out of the house, digging it in with earth near the place of residence. After that, he took the documents of the children from kindergarten and tried to leave to a neighbouring country with his son but failed. To provide himself with an alibi, upon arrival home, he reported the law enforcement bodies about the girl's disappearance. During the investigation, a large amount of work was carried out to collect and consolidate the evidence base, including using criminals and the expert capabilities of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

By a court verdict based on an earlier jury verdict, the man was found guilty of murdering a child and sentenced to life imprisonment in a special regime colony.