In Bryansk Region Alexander Kulagin and Svetlana Shkaptsova charged with killing their eight-month-old daughter and faking her kidnapping to cover it up


Bryansk Region investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee continue investigating a criminal case over murder of an –eight-month-old girl and faking of her abduction.

According to investigators, the crimes were committed by the girl’s parents Alexander Kulagin and Svetlana Shkaptsova under the following circumstances: In the period between 22 and 23 February 2012 Kulagin was drunk in his flat in Bryansk, where he lived with Shkaptsova. The aggressive man made another row. The girl, who was sleeping in a pram, woke form the noise and started to cry, with which made Kulagin even fiercer. Despite the girl’s small age he hit her on her head and torso with his fist and twice threw her on the sofa. After the beating the parents decided not give her any help and left her dying on the blanket in the bathroom.

The girl died on 26 February 2012, the accused put her body on the balcony, where it lay until 4 March 2012, when Kulagin took it away and burned on the instructions of Shkaptsova. To conceal the traces of the crime the parents developed a plan of fake abduction. To pretend that the girl was still alive and with them Kulagin and Shkaptsova in the period between 4 and 11 March 2012 no less than twice strolled with an empty pram, bought toys, when their relatives called them they imitated the girl’s noises.

On 11 March about 3 p.m. Shkaptsova left the flat with the pram tightly covered by a rain cover, where she had put a girl’s snow suit and her other clothes wrapped in a blanket. On her way she bought a toy, deliberately drawing the sales person’s attention on the fact that it was for her baby daughter. About 5 p.m. Shkaptsova came up to the Zoopark shop in house No. 33 in Pushkin Street, Bryansk, near which she left the pram and entered the shop to buy cat’s food and vitamins. At that moment, Kulagin, who had secretly came from Moscow, changed into prepared by Shkaptsova wig and women’s clothes, took away the pram and left it in the stairwell of a house in Pushkin Street, having before that taking away the snow suit and other clothes. Then Kulagin again changed in the public toilet. He burned the wig, the girl’s and women’s clothes and returned to his work in Moscow on 12 March 2012.

Having come out of the shop, Shkaptsova pretended that her daughter had been kidnapped and filed a corresponding appeal to law enforcement bodies. Later during interrogations Kulagin and Shkaptsova many times gave false details on the circumstances under which their daughter had been kidnapped.

At present Kulagin is charged with a murder of a minor and Shkaptsova – with complicity in this murder (paragraph “c” of part 2 of article 105 of the RF Criminal Code). In addition they are charged with knowingly false denunciation of a crime combined with fake evidence (part 3 of article 306 of the RF Criminal Code).

The accused are denying their involvement in the murder and plead guilty only of the false denunciation of a crime. Investigators however have their original truthful testimonies. During almost three weeks after the kidnapping had been filed, investigators worked on every possible version of the crime. At the same time the girl’s parents’ too calm behavior gave the investigators ground to think that they could have faked the kidnapping. Recognizing that together Kulagin and Shkaptsova would insist on their version, the investigators allowed the father to go to Moscow for work. When Shkaptsova was left alone the investigator managed to make a psychological contact with her and the feeling of guilt pushed her to give testimonies about the circumstances of the murder. Kulagin, who had been detained later, did not deny his involvement, pleaded guilty and confirmed it during the on-site check of testimonies.

In the near future necessary procedural operations will be carried out to complete the investigation.

28 November 2012 08:30

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