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BOYFRIEND ACCUSED OF KILLING TO SAVE FACE
By Carl Schreck, Staff Writer
The Moscow Times
Oct 31 2007
Russia
A St. Petersburg resident has been arrested in Moscow and charged
with murder for shooting dead a road construction worker in order to
save face in front of his girlfriend, authorities said.
Police arrested Artyom Turitsa, 26, on Oct. 24 on Gorkovskoye
Shosse, just east of Moscow, one month after he purportedly killed a
construction worker and injured another on Ryabinovaya Ulista, near
the Kuntsevskaya metro station in western Moscow, police spokeswoman
Yulia Makartseva said.
Turitsa began arguing with the two workers, a Georgian citizen and an
Armenian citizen, who were pouring cement on the evening of Sept. 22
after one of the tires on his Mercedes was damaged by a piece of
equipment at the construction site, Makartseva said.
After exchanging words, Turitsa fired several shots at the workers,
striking one who died at the scene and injuring the other in the thigh,
Makartseva said.
She declined to identify the victims, but Izvestia reported that Yago
Samanashvili, 26, was killed in the attack, while Srab Kachoyan, 40,
was hospitalized.
Turitsa fled the scene, and police had difficulty tracking him down
because he had temporary license plates, Makartseva said.
A massive manhunt, however, resulted in his arrest last week.
Turitsa has told police that he didn't want to kill anyone and that he
just meant to fire some shots at the workers' legs, a law enforcement
source said, Interfax reported.
Turitsa told police that the argument happened in front of his
girlfriend and that he "simply didn't want to ruin his reputation in
his girlfriend's eyes," the source said.
"He claimed the workers had insulted him and spoken in a crude
fashion," Makartseva said. "But that's no reason to shoot someone.
People need to know that they can't just resort to brute force in
cases like this."
Both Makartseva and city Investigative Committee spokesman Mikhail
Ionkin declined to elaborate on the details of the case, citing the
ongoing investigation.
Turitsa has been charged with murder and could face up to life in
prison if convicted, Ionkin said.
The deadly incident was not the first case of road rage this month.
On Oct. 8, a driver near the Kitai-Gorod metro station in central
Moscow ended an argument with three pedestrians by shooting them with
an air pistol and trying to flee, police said.
The pedestrians were injured, but not critically. The driver was
arrested by a police officer in the vicinity, police said.
By Carl Schreck, Staff Writer
The Moscow Times
Oct 31 2007
Russia
A St. Petersburg resident has been arrested in Moscow and charged
with murder for shooting dead a road construction worker in order to
save face in front of his girlfriend, authorities said.
Police arrested Artyom Turitsa, 26, on Oct. 24 on Gorkovskoye
Shosse, just east of Moscow, one month after he purportedly killed a
construction worker and injured another on Ryabinovaya Ulista, near
the Kuntsevskaya metro station in western Moscow, police spokeswoman
Yulia Makartseva said.
Turitsa began arguing with the two workers, a Georgian citizen and an
Armenian citizen, who were pouring cement on the evening of Sept. 22
after one of the tires on his Mercedes was damaged by a piece of
equipment at the construction site, Makartseva said.
After exchanging words, Turitsa fired several shots at the workers,
striking one who died at the scene and injuring the other in the thigh,
Makartseva said.
She declined to identify the victims, but Izvestia reported that Yago
Samanashvili, 26, was killed in the attack, while Srab Kachoyan, 40,
was hospitalized.
Turitsa fled the scene, and police had difficulty tracking him down
because he had temporary license plates, Makartseva said.
A massive manhunt, however, resulted in his arrest last week.
Turitsa has told police that he didn't want to kill anyone and that he
just meant to fire some shots at the workers' legs, a law enforcement
source said, Interfax reported.
Turitsa told police that the argument happened in front of his
girlfriend and that he "simply didn't want to ruin his reputation in
his girlfriend's eyes," the source said.
"He claimed the workers had insulted him and spoken in a crude
fashion," Makartseva said. "But that's no reason to shoot someone.
People need to know that they can't just resort to brute force in
cases like this."
Both Makartseva and city Investigative Committee spokesman Mikhail
Ionkin declined to elaborate on the details of the case, citing the
ongoing investigation.
Turitsa has been charged with murder and could face up to life in
prison if convicted, Ionkin said.
The deadly incident was not the first case of road rage this month.
On Oct. 8, a driver near the Kitai-Gorod metro station in central
Moscow ended an argument with three pedestrians by shooting them with
an air pistol and trying to flee, police said.
The pedestrians were injured, but not critically. The driver was
arrested by a police officer in the vicinity, police said.