Historian Sokolov found guilty of murder

“The court found Oleg Sokolov guilty of committing murder”, - the judge said during a live broadcast from the courtroom, which is being conducted by the joint press service of the St. Petersburg courts.

The court found that during a domestic conflict with a concubine out of jealousy in November last year, Sokolov shot her, then began to strangle her, and then shot three more times in the head. The graduate student died on the spot. He left her corpse in the apartment until the next night, and then dismembered the deceased and decided to throw her body into the Moika River. During an attempt to get rid of evidence, the criminal was detained.

The prosecutor proposes to sentence the historian to 15 years in a maximum security colony. The defense side asks to sentence him to no more than eight years in prison.

The case was considered in court for seven months. During his examination, Sokolov each time put on a show, accusing Yeshchenko of either dislike for his children or cruelty, "so that the court did not get the impression that she was a saint". Later, he said that he was “hounded” at the university by his scientific opponent Yevgeny Ponasenkov. He seemed to have pushed the 63-year-old assistant professor to the crime. The historian admitted his guilt.