Genetic examination of cigarette butt helped solve the murder of 1996 in the Kirov region

The man is accused of killing two people, which occurred three decades ago in the territory of Vyatskopolyansky district.

The tragic events unfolded in the summer of 1996. On the morning of June 23, during the liquidation of a fire in a private house in Vyatskopolyansky district, firefighters found the body of a 79-year-old homeowner with traces of violent death.

The room was also her 54-year-old son with serious injuries, who was urgently hospitalized, but doctors failed to save the victim – he died in hospital.

Investigators opened a criminal case on the fact of the incident, but to get on the trail of the suspect on hot trail then failed.

The investigation was suspended, but the case materials were not archived completely: work on unsolved crimes of the past years was conducted continuously.

Years later, the forensic investigators of the regional investigation department returned to the study of the materials. Specialists conducted an audit of physical evidence and selected samples for modern research.

Experts examined the cigarette butt seized almost 30 years ago from the scene, using modern molecular genetic techniques.

As a result of the analysis, criminologists were able to isolate the DNA profile of the alleged criminal.

When checking the obtained data with a single federal database of genomic information, a complete coincidence with the genetic profile of a repeatedly convicted resident of the Kaliningrad region was revealed.

Law enforcement officers quickly established his whereabouts and detained the man. During interrogation as a defendant, the defendant admitted his guilt and described in detail the events of those days.

He explained that on June 22, 1996, he had come to the victim’s house to discuss the debt for renting housing, which he had rented from them, and stayed there for the night. On the morning of June 23, 1996, due to an unresolved financial dispute between the tenant and the host, a conflict broke out.

During the quarrel, the guest grabbed a hammer and dealt them fatal blows to the head first to the man and then to his elderly mother. To hide the traces of the massacre, the attacker set fire to the house and fled.

At the request of the investigating authorities, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention against the accused.