St. Petersburg Municipal Leaders Detained in 2003 Triple‑Murder Investigation

Overview

• Investigators detained Dachnoe municipality head Vadim Sagalaev, his deputy Igor Zabolotny, and a local resident, following coordinated searches by the Investigative Committee, Interior Ministry and regional FSB.
• The suspects are accused of killing a man, his wife and their bodyguard outside a residence on Prospekt Stachek in June 2003 and of wounding a bystander.
• The case is qualified under multiple parts of Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code for murder of three persons and attempted murder of another.
• Authorities say the crimes stemmed from personal animosity tied to the redistribution of shares in several commercial enterprises, and note an October 2003 attempt to bomb the victim’s car that was foiled and the device defused.
• One alleged participant, Yuri Vasiliev (Zaitsev), was remanded in custody on December 25, another suspect is internationally wanted, and separate to this case a defendant named Sergey Baikov fled the Moskovsky District Court and was declared wanted.