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SK completes probe into murder of former Colonel Yuri Budanov

Yuri Budanov was shot to death in the yard of a house in Komsomolsky Prospekt in Moscow on June 10, 2011
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, October 9 (Itar-Tass) — The Investigative Committee has completed the probe into the criminal case over the murder of former Colonel Yuri Budanov.

"The investigators have completed the probe into the criminal case against Yusup Temerkhanov, accused of the commission of this crime," SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

Yusup Temerkhanov /his lawyer calls him Magomed Suleimanov/ is accused of first degree murder and illegal turnover of weapons /Article 205, Part 2 and Article 222, Part 2 of Russia's penal code/. He was detained last August.

Yuri Budanov, 47, was shot and killed in central Moscow at noon on June 10, 2011, as he was leaving a notary's office in Komsomolsky Prospekt (Avenue). An unidentified attacker fired eight shots at him. The white Mitsubishi Lancer in which he fled was later found in a nearby district in Dovatora Street. Police found a pistol with a silencer in the car.

There were two criminals. One was waiting in the car, and his accomplice shot at Budanov several times. The killer was clad in military uniform.

One of the initial leads was that Budanov had been killed because of revenge.

After killing Budanov, Temerkhanov set the car on fire, thinking that the fire would destroy all the evidence of his involvement in the crime.

"However, the fire was extinguished on time. The investigators found and retrieved many items, inclduing those that helped them ascertain the suspect's identity through DNA tests," the SK spokesman said.

The SK said "Temerkhanov, after the murder of his father in Chechnya in 2000, decided to kill the serviceman who he believed had been involved. He chose Budanov, former commander of the 160th tank regiment well-known to the public in connection with the murder of a Chechen girl in 2000.

The investigators have gathered sufficient evidence, and are sending the criminal case for endorsing the indictment. The case then will go to a court for consideration on the merits.

In 2003, Budanov was sentenced to ten years in jail on charges of kidnapping and murdering Chechen woman Elza Kungayeva in the village of Tangi-Chu in March 2000. The North Caucasus district military court stripped him of his rank of Colonel and state decorations. A court denied his parole plea four times. On December 24, 2008, the Dimitrovgrad district court granted him parole. On January 15, 2009, the department of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Ulyanovsk region confirmed that Budanov had left the penal colony. Chechnya said it would be seeking to arraign him for other crimes committed during his participation in the anti-terrorist operation.