KAZAN, September 7 (Itar-Tass) — The Tatarstan Supreme Court has upheld the arrest of Kazan academy lecturer Igor Danilevsky suspected of killing two women. Thus, the defense’s appeal was turned down, the court told Itar-Tass on Friday.
Lawyer Eduard Ivanov asked the court to release Danilevsky on bail or to put him under house arrest. He said his client did not have an earlier criminal record; he was a Ph.D. with good references.
Yet the court said Danilevsky would stay under arrest until October 29, as the Kazan Vakhitovsky District Court had ruled.
Danilevsky pleaded guilty at first; he said he killed the women in the heat of passion. A 76-year-old woman and her 38-year-old daughter were stabbed to death at their home in Kazan on August 29. There was a writing, “Free Pussy Riot,” on the wall.
Danilevsky was apprehended on the suspicion of the double murder at a rented apartment of Chukoiva Street in the small morning hours of August 31. The police found the killed women’s cell phones, a knife and an IOU on the apartment’s balcony.
“Danilevsky made a full confession. He said the younger of the killed women was his fellow student. He promised to marry her and persuaded the woman to borrow money from a bank for repaying a part of his bank loans,” the court said.
He visited the women on August 22. There was a quarrel and he stabbed the younger woman several times. Her mother rushed to see what happened, and Danilevsky killed her, a witness, too. He searched the apartment, found the IOU and stole two cell phones and 100,000 rubles.
In an attempt to pass the murder for ritual, he wrote “Free Pussy Riot” in the women’s blood on the wall.
A criminal case was opened on the charges of killing two or more people (Sub-Clause a, Part 2 of Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code).
Later on Danilevsky said he made the confession under pressure and threats of physical force. The Tatarstan Interior Ministry denied the accusations but started an inquiry.