MOSCOW, August 19 (Itar-Tass) — Police in the village of Kushchevskaya, Krasnodar Territory, have solved 11 serious crimes in the nine months since the high-profile murder there. More than 2,000 witnesses have been questioned, Investigative Committee (SK) spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.
The authorities launched a large-scale probe in the heretofore little known Kuban village after the bodies of 12 people were found at a private house in Zelyonaya Street. There were four children, including two infants, among the victims. The house was set on fire after the murder, police said.
Preliminary reports said one child died of carbon monoxide poisoning, and another one was strangled. The remaining ten people died of multiple stab wounds. The investigators said each victim had been knifed three to ten times.
Markin reminded that “at present, 12 people are suspects in the case: Sergei Tsapok, Vyacheslav Tsepovyaz (Tsapok’s business partner), Andrei Bykov, Vyacheslav Ryabtsev, Sergei Tsepovyaz, Igor Chernykh, Nikolai Tsapok, Vladimir Zaporozhets, Alexander Gurov, Yevgeny Gurov, Vyacheslav Skachedub, and Vladimir Alexeyev.
Another two suspects – Vitaly Ivanov and Sergei Karpenko – committed suicide in custody.
“Eleven criminal cases over serious and very serious crimes have been pooled together with the mass murder case. The crimes were committed in the Kushchevsky district in the period from 2003 through 2009.
The were all solved by the headquarters for serious and very serious crimes, set up at the order of SK chairman Alexander Bastrykin, the SK spokesman said.
They include the cases of the murder of seven people and attempted murder of three people, robbery, malicious destruction of property, rape, and sexual abuse of minors.
“During the investigation into the criminal case, the group of investigators inspected 37 scenes of crime and terrain and carried out 24 questionings of suspects and more than 100 questionings of defendants. They checked evidence at the scene in 30 cases.
More than 200 retrievals of objects and documents have been carried out, 300 objects and documents have been examined, including vehicles, CCTV recordings, computers, and mobile phones. More than 2,000 witnesses have been questions, 257 expert examinations have been carried through, and more than 500 inquires and requests have been forwarded to investigators.
The SK’s main department for the North Caucasus Federal District will continue the investigation of this case, Markin said.