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In Leningrad Region, sentence imposed over a group of persons that committed murder of a Leningrad restaurateur

The evidence collected by the Leningrad Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia was found by court sufficient to sentence a group of persons - Sergey Kim, Andrey Vasiliev and Vadim Obysov - found guilty of murder of a Leningrad restaurateur in 2019. Depending on the role of each they were accused of committing offenses under Paraghraph H of Part 2 of Article 105 (murder for hire) and Part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code of Russia (purchase, storage, transportation and bearing of firearms).

The investigation and the court established that Kim, Vasilyev, Obysov and the fourth accomplice, in respect of whom the criminal case was separated into separate proceedings in connection with his search, conspired to kill Mikhail Dolgopolov for hire for a monetary reward in the amount of over 500 thousand rubles. In order to commit the offence, the accused individuals had purchased a firearm (a TT) and a transport vehicle (a Ford Mondeo). According to their roles, on April 16, 2019, one of the accused had driven the victim through deception to a rented cottage located in Vaia settlement of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Region, where the two co-perpetrators had been waiting for them. There the victim had been murdered with a head shot. After committing the offence, the convicts had taken measures to hide traces of the offence and of the body of the deceased. They had transported the body to Novgorod Region and buried it in a forest.

Thanks to the painstaking work of the investigators of the Leningrad Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the employees of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, it was possible to establish psychological contact with the defendants in the case, the latter gave detailed testimony about the circumstances of the case, which made it possible to find the body of the victim.

During searches in a household located in the Vsevolozhsk district of the Leningrad region, belonging to the customer of this crime, weapons, ammunition, money, and documents of interest to the investigation were found and seized.

The fourth accomplice, who ordered the crime, was charged in absentia. He is currently on the international wanted list.

In the criminal case, a large volume of investigative actions was carried out aimed at collecting and securing evidence: searches, examinations of seized objects and documents, confrontations, verification of testimony on the spot, interrogation of witnesses. A number of complex forensic examinations (medical, psychiatric, molecular genetic, ballistic, technical and forensic) were carried out, the conclusions on which, among other evidence, formed the basis of the accusation.

The participants in the crime filed a petition for the consideration of the criminal case by a court with the participation of a jury. Based on the results of the trial by the jury, a guilty verdict was unanimously passed against three members of the criminal group.

The court sentenced Kim to 17 years of imprisonment, Obysov - to 18 years, Vasiliev - to 15 years of imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony.