A former Russian MP has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for masterminding the murder of three Russian nationals in Peyia in 2004.
The decision at a St Petersburg court on Thursday ruled Mikhail Glushchenko serve a total of 24 years in a maximum-security prison and pay a fine of 300,000 roubles.
Glushchenko was already serving time for other crimes.
The three victims – former State Duma Deputy Vyacheslav Shevchenko, 51, businessman Yury Zorin, 55, and Valentina Tretyakova, 25, who acted as an interpreter for the two men – were bludgeoned to death in Shevchenko’s villa in Peyia in 2004.
The bodies of the three victims were found on March 24 after they had been dismembered with an axe and wrapped in plastic bags in the two bedrooms and bathroom of the villa.
In addition to the bodies found in plastic bags, police had found pieces of furniture from the house in plastic bags scattered throughout the villa.
Their bodies were found by police after the lawyer for one of the businessmen was concerned when his client did not show up to a pre-arranged meeting and did not respond to calls.
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