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Court sentences perpetrator of a probe into a murder of a female driver by a travelling companion form BlaBlaCar service

The evidence gathered by the Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia has been found by the court to be sufficient to sentence Vitaly Chikirev. He was found guilty of committing offences under Paragraph H of Part 2 of Article 105, Parts 1, 3, 4 of Article 162, Part 1 of Article 166 of the Criminal Code of Russia (murder, robbery, illegal seizure of a vehicle not intended for a theft).

Investigation and the court established that in December 2018 Chikirev decided to use Blablacar platform for illegal enrichment. The platform provides for search of drives and passengers for joint trips for remuneration. The accused registered two accounts on the platform for false names and booked three passenger seats in a car of one of the application users planning a trip from Moscow to Tula. When meeting the driver, the accused introduces himself as Salomatin, one of her travelling companions, while two other seats remained vacant.

On the way the woman upon Chikirev's request stopped the car on a sideway of M-2 Crimea highway in Serpukhov district. The accused demanded to hand over to him all the money and valuables and murdered the driver after her refusal. Chikirev stole the money and other property of the victim and drove the body of the victim to a forest in order to hide traces of crime. He drove the car to Yaroslavl and left in on a parking lot.

During investigation of the murder investigators and operative bodies of the Russian Interior Ministry established Chikirev's involvement in other offenses. In November 2018 he arranged a meeting with a woman about an Avito ad, allegedly to view an apartment for rent. While in the dwelling, he committed a robbery attack against the victim and stole her belongings. In December 2018 he attacked a Moscow citizen in the same manner and stole her fur coat and other property.

The court sentenced Chikirev to 25 years of imprisonment with first 10 years to be served in prison, and the rest - in strict regime penal colony.