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A court has recognized the evidence gathered by the investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee for the Sverdlovsk Region sufficient to convict three residents of the city of Yekaterinburg – 42-year-old Alexey Karpov, 45-year-old Alexey Savosin and 27-year-old Alexander Babusenkov. Depending on the role of each one, they were found guilty of crimes under part 5 of article 33, paragraph “h” of article 105 of the RF Penal Code (complicity in contract murder), paragraphs “a” and “h” of part 2 of article 105 (contract murder of two people), part 3 of article 33, paragraphs “a”, “h” and “j” of part 2 of article 105 (organization of contract murder of two people to conceal another crime), part 1 of article 166 (hijacking a vehicle committed by a group of people in a previous concert), part 1 of article 222 (illegal circulation of firearms), part 1 of article 30, part 4 of article 159 (preparing for a fraud on an especially large scale) and part 3 of article 327 (use of a knowingly forged document).

The court and investigators have found that Karpov, while working for a private organization, decided to organize murder of a chief accountant – Anastasia Chechelova, 39. The investigators believe that Karpov wanted to kill her because he did not want to pay off his debt of over 3 million rubles. He asked Bushmakin, an acquaintance of his, to find people who would kill the victim for fee. Bushmakin found Alexey Savosin and Alexander Babusenkov, who agreed to commit the crime for 350 thousand rubles. The murder was carefully prepared and in the morning of 24 February 2010, Savosin went to a garage cooperative in Moskovskaya Street in Yekaterinburg, when the victim came there to fetch her car, and shot several times in her head and torso from a non-standard 9mm gun. The woman died on the scene. After that Savosin and Babusenkov (the latter was watching so that there was no-one around during the killing) drove the victim’s car to a house on Volgogradskaya Street, to confuse the investigators and complicate their work. To confirm that the victim was dead the killers gave Alexey Karpov the woman’s personal belongings they had taken from her car (including her driving license).

The court and investigators also found that in the afternoon of 23 February 2012, there was another murder committed on the order of Karpov. The victim was 37-year-old businessman Yevgeny Konovalov. As the previous time, the killer was Savosin. According to the investigators, the crime was planned by Karpov in order to facilitate another crime acquisition by fraud of real estates in Armavirskaya Street, that was previously owned by the victim. Savosin agreed to kill the businessman for 500 thousand rubles. He used a TT pistol fit to shoot 7.62mm caliber, which he had illegally baught a few days before the murder. He used a silencer. Bushmakin introduced himself as a lawyer and lured the victim to a meeting near a café in Kraul Street. When the businessman arrived to the agreed place in his car, Savosin, acting in concert with Bushmakin, introduced himself under a false name and sat in the car in the back passenger seat. He asked the businessman to head to a trolleybus ring on Kraul Street. The victim did what he was asked for, and the killer seized an opportunity and shot him dead in his head.

Meanshile, Karpov failed to accomplish his real estate fraud, to facilitate which the murder had been plotted for, because of the reasons independent of him. Namely, active investigating operations in the businessman’s murder case hindered his criminal plans.

During the inquiry, the investigators also found that Karpov in the period between November 2012 and February 2013, hiding from the investigators in the Kurgan and Tyumen Regions used a forged passport with his photo, but false details in it. However, Karpov, who was internationally wanted, was detained in February 2013 in a café in the city of Tyumen. His two accomplices and the killer had been identified and apprehended before that, in autumn 2012. Eventually, all four of the accused were remanded in custody pending the trial.

During the investigation a court at the request of the Investigative Committee arrested Karpov’s property, worth around 60 million rubles, to ensure compensation of damage caused by his crimes.

It should also be noted that one of the accomplices, 28-year-old Bushmakin, fully admitted his guilt and repented. He also described the roles of the rest three of them in the crimes, who by the way did not admit their guilt. Considering all this, he concluded a pretrial cooperation deal with the investigators and the criminal case against him was severed in a separate lawsuit. For participating in organizing contract murders of two people a court sentenced Bushmakin to 8 years to be served in a maximum-security penal colony.

The court has sentenced Karpov to 20 years to be served in a maximum-security penal colony with subsequent restraint of liberty for 2 years; Savosin to 21.5 years to be served in a maximum-security penal colony and 2 years of restraint of liberty; Babusenkov to 9.5 years to be served in a maximum-security penal colony and 1 year of restraint of liberty. In addition, the defendants must pay 6 million of damage to representatives of each of their victims.